CHAPTER 3: SHOCK AFTER SHOCK

After I hesitantly decided to trust the young man – I didn’t really have any other chance if I wanted to get anywhere in the strange city – he walked me through the alleys, along the streets. He said his father would be working nearby, so we could walk. To be honest, it almost surprised me – how much the people in this era seemed to walk. I had always thought that the people of future were overweight and flied around with some devices. At some point my fear moved aside and I became more curious about everything. I was still tense and confused, but the comforting presence of the young man made me feel a little bit better. He explained me about a lot of things, clearly trying to take my thoughts off everything scary.

“Oh right”, he suddenly said, stopping. “We didn’t even introduce ourselves.”

“I’m Min Dami”, I replied quietly and looked around me.

“Choi Seungcheol, medical student at Seoul National University”, he introduced himself quickly but cheerfully and flashed me his bright smile. Then he continued his way down the street. I, anyhow, didn’t.

Seoul National University. My university. This person had said it was year 2157. If that was true, exactly 150 years ago I was a student in that university. There was probably a list of old attendees, and I would probably find my name on that list. The thought struck through me like a flash and I let out a breathy gasp, feeling my eyes getting teary and my knees shaking. I fell to my knees onto the ground, staring into somewhere only I could see.

“Why is this happening to me?” I asked, my voice shaking. “Why am I here? How can I return?”

Seungcheol seemed a little bit awkward. He took a step closer to me and clumsily patted my shoulder. “It’s alright. We’re going to come up with something.”

He helped me up and patted my shoulder again. It seemed like all he could do to cheer me up was to smile. And to be honest, his smile did have a comforting effect. I felt myself calming down a little bit, and I could gather myself, at least enough to continue walking.

After walking for another couple of minutes, we turned around a corner and a huge building became visible in front of us. I couldn’t help but to let my mouth drop open. I had never seen a building as big as this one. It was built – at least visibly – only of glass, and it was shaped like an oval. Over the glass surface trailed beautiful rose vines, which were the first plants I had seen since waking up. I glanced at Seungcheol, who smirked at me.

“It’s the new Seoul Central Hospital. It’s right in the centre of our city”, he stated.

My eyes widened. Was he taking me into a hospital? Did he think I was insane? I took a step back. I shouldn’t have followed him after all. Just as I was taking another step, he grabbed my wrist and pulled me with him, telling me to come. I let out a gasp but had no other chance but to follow him.

Even the doors of the building were huge. I stared at them in awe as they slid open and let us enter the grand building. I could see the architectural style of this era very clearly. Lots of glass, lots of metal. Only colours I could see in this building were white and grey. I would have loved to just stare at the beautiful building, but I was reminded by my situation as Seungcheol tightened his hold on my wrist.

The receptionists behind a counter bowed at Seungcheol as we walked past them, towards a line of elevators. Even the elevator was cool. Rounded walls, entirely made of glass. Only minus side was that I couldn’t look down as the floor of the elevator was fully glass, and I could see the ground getting further away from me as we took off to the top floor. The elevator ride was quickly over, and we stepped into a long hallway. I could already tell this was the floor of the higher-ups. And just one glance at the huge French doors at the end of the hallway was enough to give away that it was the office of the director of this hospital.

For my surprise, Seungcheol dragged me to that exact room, knocking on the door before entering. Inside the huge room, there was enough space for an actual office and a space that had a television and a sofa. And on a big office chair behind a desk, sat a man that… didn’t really look like a director of a hospital. He was probably in his late 30’s or early 40’s. He had a healthy frame and his raven black hair was styled neatly. He lifted up his head from the desk as he heard the door open, and raised his eyebrows at Seungcheol.

“What brings you here?” he asked.

“Hi, dad”, Seungcheol greeted the man and I was about to choke on air. This person was his father? Well, he had said he was a medical student. It did make sense. “I found a drifter.”

The man’s expression became bright and he flashed me a smile. “Did you, really? Let me see.”

I stood at the door awkwardly as the man walked closer to us, smiling at me brightly. He stared at my face like I was an animal in a zoo. It made me feel a bit uncomfortable.

“My name is Choi Jaewoo”, he introduced himself. “I’m the one who’s in charge of this hospital. You can call me doctor Choi.”

“Min Dami”, I breathed out quickly.

“Would you like some sedatives?” he asked, and with the smile on his face, he actually looked like a creep.

“No, thank you”, I replied quickly, trying to avoid looking at the man’s eyes.

“Alright”, he said. “How about a quick exam? I want to know if you’re alright.”

I felt a bit doubtful and was hesitant about nodding, but did it anyway. He was a doctor. He probably knew what he was doing. The man guided me to the living room-like space in the office and sat me down on the sofa. I eyed at Seungcheol as he sat down into a big, comfy looking armchair next to the sofa. He must’ve thought about the situation as education – he was a medical student, after all.

Dr Choi checked my pulse, my blood pressure, my temperature and made sure my eyes were reacting like they should. After making sure I was alright, he put his stethoscope and torch away and with a comforting smile, assured me that everything was just like supposed.

“Could someone please tell what is going on?” I finally asked.

Seungcheol and his father exchanged glances before Dr Choi sighed and sat down on the sofa next to me. He let out a quiet hum before tilting his head and looking straight at my eyes.

“Has your family ever talked to you about drifters?” he asked.

I frowned. Drifters? I shook my head, confused enough to not be able to answer.

“Alright then”, the doctor sighed. “About 0.2% of this Earth’s population have this one particular gene. It gives them the ability to drift between different times and parallel worlds through dreams, even though learning to use the ability is time consuming and hard.”

I let out a breathy gasp – I had lost count of how many of these I had let out the same day. What this man was telling me didn’t make sense at all. But then again it made perfect sense. This explained all the encounters I had made with people I had seen in my dreams. This explained my relationship with Wonwoo. And it also proved me that Wonwoo actually existed. But still, the words didn’t make any sense.

“The gene passes down from father to child. Are you sure your father has never talked to you about this?” the doctor asked.

Oh. I closed my mouth and looked at the floor. A fact that was never spoken out loud was about to be exposed. Even though I loved my parents, even though the man who lived in our house and was the best father ever for me, he wasn’t my biological father. My real father had died before I was even born, leaving my mother alone with an unborn child for months. Soon after my birth my new father would, anyhow, step into our lives and make mother happy again. He was the only father I knew and loved.

“Actually…” I started quietly, still feeling my body shake. “My biological father died before I was born. I never knew anything about this.”

The doctor’s expression softened. He flashed me a small, comforting smile. “This was your first time, right?”

I felt the shaking getting stronger and closed my eyes. The move made the tears that I had held in fall onto my cheeks, rolling all the way down to my chin. I buried my face in my hands and started sobbing out loud. I felt so lost I wasn’t even embarrassed to cry in front of these people. I missed my parents, I missed the familiar, safe world.

The doctor moved a bit closer to me and patted my back gently, comforting me. “First time drifting is always scary. I would know, I’ve dealt with this since I was ten years old.”

I parted my eyelids a little bit and glanced at the man who had a somewhat sad smile on his face. So he was like me too. The thought made me feel a lot better – the fact that he actually knew how I felt. I felt more at ease, more safe. I glanced at Seungcheol, who didn’t seem to pay attention to our conversation anymore. Was he a drifter too?

“It wasn’t my first time”, I sniffed.

The man tilted his head. “It wasn’t?”

“I’ve met people in my dreams before. There’s someone I’ve met for the last three years. Every single night”, I whispered. “But not like this. Before they were dreams, but now I’m actually in an another world.”

The man nodded. “You’ve got a little bit of a kick start. It didn’t all hit you at once. But I understand it must still be a shock. I promise I will take care of you until you learn to control your ability.”

I naturally felt a bit hesitant, but I was starting to trust this man. I had always trusted doctors, and this one actually knew what had happened to me. And he offered help and care. That was exactly what I needed right now. That’s why it was easier for me to stop crying and sit up properly. Dr Choi smiled at me, getting up from the sofa and glancing at the clock.

“Dami”, he called my name. “Would you like the sedative now? You’ve gone through a big shock.”

I was exhausted yet I felt restless and my heart was still pounding in my chest. The thought of getting something that would calm me down a little bit actually sounded very good. I nodded at me man who took a pill from the drawer of his desk and offered it to me with a glass of water. Only the water seemed to make me feel a lot better. I thanked the man who nodded at me as a reply and then turned to look at Seungcheol.

“Son”, he said. “You should take Dami to our house. Take my car. I will call a driver when I get off work.”

The boy nodded and got up from the armchair. He walked up to me, flashing me a smile. “Let’s go.”

I followed Seungcheol back down to the big reception hall and out of the grand doors. Now I got a better view of the city. Wherever I looked, I saw shining skyscrapers in different shapes, and there were loads of people walking around, to work, off work, to school, off school. I did see cars flying around – well, not around. The traffic seemed very organized, the cars flied in neat lines – it almost looked like they were on top of an invisible wire that moved them around. The grey clouds had started to part a little bit and a little bit of sunlight got to dance on top of the shiny buildings, making them glint beautifully. At least I knew now that the future wasn’t as bad as I had always thought it would be.

As we walked towards the parking lot where the hospital’s workers’ cars were parked, we had to stop to the traffic lights. There was a train passing by. My eyes widened as I saw the train. It was flying as well, and it reminded me of a snake. It seemed to be flexible since it survived the turns so effortlessly. The train passed us by quickly, but not quickly enough for me to not see the passengers. One particular passenger, actually. A passenger who looked very familiar to me. A passenger who was reading a book with old school reading glasses on.

I froze in my place, only my eyes were able to move as they grew even larger. I wanted to think I had seen wrong, but I knew this time I had seen right. It was Wonwoo. I had seen Wonwoo in a train, in the year 2157. He did exist. He’d be born long after my death in the real world. But it was him. I opened my mouth but couldn’t say anything. The train disappeared and the traffic lights turned green. Seungcheol had to pull me with him so that I’d take a step forward. I slowly revived from my shock and followed the boy, my thoughts still wandering to the boy I had seen in the train.

Seungcheol led me to his father’s car. It was a beautiful spot of colour in the middle of all the black and white everywhere. It was bright blue, and reminded me a lot of a Lamborghini. Seungcheol opened the door for me and as I sat in, I felt a twist in my stomach. I had always hated flying, heights and amusement parks. This was like the combination of all three. Seungcheol sat down next to me and started the car which got off the ground and rose to the height of about two meters. I had to close my eyes already.

“Are you afraid?” Seungcheol asked.

“I’m not very fond of heights and speed”, I replied quietly.

Seungcheol chuckled. “I’ll drive carefully.”

Carefully. He might’ve thought so, but for the whole 20-minute drive I was fearing for my life. My eyes were tightly shut, my fingers were curled up in tight fists and I was as stiff as possible. I couldn’t even admire the views as Seungcheol told me to do – according to his words, he and his father lived in the most beautiful and natural neighbourhood in Seoul. Unfortunately, I could only open my eyes when the car was turned off and safely on the ground. Seungcheol was the one to open the door for me once again, and I had to grab the boy’s hand in order to get off the car – I was shaking quite violently.

I looked around me. The boy was right. The neighbourhood was beautiful. It was not just as futuristic as the rest of the city seemed to be nowadays. It reminded me more of the 21^st century Seoul I lived in. And more importantly, there were plants. I could see a few trees here and there, and people had planted flowers on front of the houses.

“That’s our house”, Seungcheol said and nodded towards a 10-story apartment house. I raised my eyebrows. These rich people lived in an apartment? Seungcheol seemed to notice my reaction. “I mean the whole building.”

Right. This sounded right. They owned and habited the whole building. They probably had a lot of servants and everything. I sighed and glanced at the boy. Did he realize how lucky his life was?

“There are a couple of empty rooms in our apartment, you can probably live with us”, the boy stated and smiled at me.

“Aren’t the neighbours suspicious about a new female resident?” I asked.

“We can say you’re my cousin”, the boy said. “From somewhere outside of Seoul.”

I nodded. Alright, that sounded reasonable.

Seungcheol motioned me to follow him and led me to the entryway of the building. He pressed the pin code to the door’s lock and made sure I’d remember it – it was his birthday. 3588. It was so weird to think this boy was born in 2135, when in my world that date would be over a hundred year into future. Nobody would even think about such dates.

The boy led me into the building and I saw something I didn’t really expect seeing. The first floor did look like you’d expect an apartment house to look like, there were multiple doors leading into multiple apartments, probably for their servants, but once we took the elevator into the second floor, it had been completely renovated. There weren’t many apartments, all the walls had been removed and the whole floor was made into a big open space with a kitchen and living room. The other 8 floors were like that too – big, spacious, huge, and nicely decorated. At least in this place I could see some colours. In addition to black and white, there were some spots of blue – this family seemed to like the colour since the doctor’s car was also blue.

“I’m slowly getting a little bit nervous”, I stated. “Rich people are often scary. What if you kidnap me or something?”

Seungcheol let out a laugh. “Don’t worry. If there’s a drifter in the house, the chance of betrayal is very small. Drifters are a pretty small minority, you know. You have to stick together.”

I tilted my head a little bit. “Are you not a drifter, then?”

“No”, the boy said and shook his head. “I don’t know my real father either. I was adopted.”

“Ah”, I let out, nodding slowly. “Well, I did think you father seems a bit too young to be your real father.”

The boy chuckled. “He’s a cool dad, though.”

I managed to flash the boy a smile. “Good to know.”

Seungcheol showed me the rest of the house, and then took me to a room in the 8^th floor. It was huge, like every room in the house was, but the decoration was a little bit more old school than the other rooms. For me, it was still very modern and stylish.

“This used to be our housekeeper’s room”, Seungcheol explained. “You can use it from now on.”

“Where does your housekeeper stay, then?” I asked quietly.

Seungcheol chuckled. “We haven’t had one in years. Just relax and use it.”

The boy left the room and left me alone in the huge space. Relax. I wasn’t so sure about that. I was still very stiff, not able to comprehend the reality. I wasn’t even sure if this was the reality. Pretty much all I was being sure about was that I had met someone else with the same ability as me. And that I had seen Wonwoo.

Seungcheol’s words were still echoing in my ears. I had no way out of this world yet, so all I could do was to readjust. Relax? At least I could try.