‘Argh! This is so damn annoying!’ Hakyeon shouted out and started to bang his head on the cage to vent his frustrations. He thought he was going to go insane from being trapped for so long. ‘Just how many days has it been already?’

Hakyeon could not keep track of the time that could have gone by already as the sky in this world was always dark. He’s been tallying up the times he fell asleep and woke up again in order to see how many days could have possibly passed by. He’s usually the type to sleep early and wake up early too so he thought maybe those usual habits of his would come to use. At least, until he finds a way to get out of this dreary place.

‘There’s no use,’ Taekwoon said again while he heard Hakyeon making a commotion inside the cage.

Hakyeon glared at him.

‘I want out,’ Hakyeon said in a stern and demanding tone.

Taekwoon sighed and decided to ignore him for the hundredth time. Hakyeon have been pestering him each time their eyes met. He wanted to leave and go back home immediately.

‘The time on the other side haven’t changed much in the real world, so stop your counting. It’s pointless.’ Taekwoon noticed the marks engraved on the flooring of the cage.

The real world… that’s right, this is a Dream isn’t it?

Hakyeon keeps having to be reminded that he is trapped in a place too far from home and out of reach from reality. He was alone in this struggle and not a single person can help him. Even the person in which he thought could be of any help, decided to play this ‘game’ of his. Hakyeon was going to wait patiently for the latter but he was starting to lose it. He wants his answers and he wants it immediately.

~

‘You may want to increase the sound of the guitar solo at this part. I think it would have a lot more impact and better impression overall.’ The older suggested.

Wonshik glared at the Dark Taekwoon as the two of them sat there along with their producer and working on their new album.

What does he know about making music? Wonshik grumbled.

‘Hmm, good idea. Let’s try that and give it another listen. Wonshik-ah, have you finished your lyrics for the song yet?’ The producer asked.

‘Uh, yeah. Just need a bit more refining.’ Wonshik wasn’t really paying attention to what was going on.

‘I can’t wait to see what you have.’

‘He’s always got the best lyrics,’ the Dark Taekwoon suddenly complimented the younger in front of the producers.

‘Haha, I agree. Even I have to watch out or else Wonshik here is going to steal my job,’ the producer joked around with the Dark Taekwoon.

Wonshik didn’t expect the sudden praise but it was most likely due to the fact that they were in front of so many people. He was irritated by the fact that he couldn’t say ‘no’ to their CEO with arranging the Dark Taekwoon to work with him on this album. If it was their main vocalist, Wonshik would have gladly cooperated since they were once a subunit but this Taekwoon is a fake. Why is this fake Taekwoon putting on such a façade in this world where he’s completely powerless to control anything?

‘I’ll see you guys tomorrow around the same time okay? Go home and get some rest,’ their producer said as their session has finally ended for the day.

Both Wonshik and Taekwoon waved goodbye to their production team. Immediately after they have left, Wonshik packed up his belongings and about to leave as well. He did not want to be in the same room and alone with the Dark Taekwoon.

‘Don’t you want to know what happened to your hyung?’ The Dark one suddenly said, which made Wonshik look back.

‘What do you mean?’ Wonshik asked. Deep down, he was desperate to know the truth about what had happened to Jung Taekwoon and what might happen to their group if neither of their oldest members decide to return.

The Dark Taekwoon looked at the younger in silence. He looked as if he was debating whether or not to say anything at all even though he was the one who initiated the conversation.

‘Well?!’ Wonshik got irritated at the silence.

‘I can tell you but you mustn’t tell any of the other members. Especially not that Cha Hakyeon.’

~

The Dark Hakyeon along with Hyuk and Hongbin were busy practicing their choreography for their new song. Unlike the leader of VIXX, this Hakyeon knew almost nothing about dancing or performing on stage.

But because Cha Hakyeon of VIXX was known to be professionally trained, the Dark Hakyeon had to work extra hard in order to not be revealed.

‘You can do it hyung! Just a little more!’ Hyuk cheered him on as he helped the Dark Hakyeon do some really painful stretches. This body that he was in have become rather stiff recently due to the lack of practice and exercise.

‘Hyuk-ah, you’re going to kill him if you keep pushing like that,’ Hongbin could not bear to watch any longer. The Dark Hakyeon’s face was obviously becoming red from the pain yet he wasn’t saying anything at all.

‘But Hakyeon-hyung is supposed to be really flexible. Hyung, aren’t you a bit too stiff?’ Hyuk asked the older.

‘Sorry.’ Hakyeon sighed.

‘Let’s take a quick break then continue later okay?’ Hongbin suggested.

‘Fine~’ the younger let go and sat down.

The three of them sat together along the wall while watching the choreography video during their short break. The dance routine had a lot of complicated moves and steps that were very different from their previous dances. Yet, it matched their song perfectly and had a very funky vibe to it. Their first comeback song after so long, ‘Dynamite.’

‘Hyung,’ Hyuk suddenly called out to Hakyeon.

‘What is it?’

‘…’

‘Hmm?’ Hongbin and Hakyeon both looked at the younger.

‘Speak up Han Sanghyuk,’ Hongbin told him.

‘Can we see the video clip that you sent Hakyeon-hyung before? About that day…’ Hyuk finally said.

‘Wh-what? Why would you want to see that?’ Hakyeon was shocked.

‘I just want to know what Hakyeon-hyung saw. It’s not like I don’t trust you but I really want to know, how our hyung must have felt when he watched it. Please?’ Hyuk pleaded.

‘I’m sorry, Hyuk-ah. I really don’t think it’s a good idea.’ The Dark Hakyeon told him.

‘He’s right. What good will rewatching that incident do for you? For all of us?’ Hongbin decided to side with the Dark Hakyeon on this matter. The video would only bring back painful memories for all of them.

That incident last year was also the cause of Hyuk’s trauma at that time and neither Hongbin nor the Dark Hakyeon want to see their youngest break down again.

‘I’ll be fine! Don’t worry bout it. I just want to know. Plus, I know you really didn’t mean to hurt me. You made up for it already by protecting me so please, please show it to me,’ Hyuk asked again.

The Dark Hakyeon saw how desperate the younger was being. It was definitely not a good idea to show Hyuk or even Hongbin about what he had sent to their leader. But, he knows that he can’t hide it for long if any of the members asked.

The Dark Hakyeon took out the laptop in which their leader had used to watch the USB in the dance studio from before. Though the laptop was password protected, the Dark Hakyeon knew what the password was as he knew their leader too well.

He could feel his hands trembling a bit as he typed in VIXX’s debut date onto the keyboard.

‘You don’t have to if you don’t want to,’ Hongbin told him and grabbed his hands.

The Dark Hakyeon shook his head.

‘Hyogi is right. You guys have the right to know about what I had sent to your leader. I’m sorry…’

He clicked open the file and pressed play to show it to the two younger members. The video brought back a lot of negative memories and it was obvious that both Hongbin and Hyuk was sadden by having to witness their past again. They looked shocked to know that such a clip had even existed in the first place. Then, the last part of the video had the captions directing it to their leader and ordering him to ‘disappear’ on the screen.

They’re definitely going to hate me now… I’m sorry. The Dark Hakyeon almost couldn’t bear to see what kinds of expression both Hongbin and Hyuk had on their faces anymore. He became tense and anxious.

‘Hyung,’ Hyuk said.

The Dark Hakyeon jolted from guilt.

‘Where did you get this clip from?’ He asked.

‘Huh?’

Both Hongbin and Hyuk looked at one another as if they were thinking the same thing.

‘I thought all evidence of that incident was erased already. At least that’s what Sejun-hyung told us,’ Hyuk said.

‘Yeah. Now that I think about it, we even gave everyone that was there that day a lot of money in order to keep this incident a secret. We even double checked the set for any of the filming or footage that could have been leaked. None of this should have remained,’ Hongbin said as well.

‘Uh, I was…’ The Dark Hakyeon was trying to recall how he had obtained the video. ‘It was given to me by someone.’

‘Who?’

‘A fan.’

‘What?! No way our fans would do that… and why would they even be on the set during that day?’

‘They must have snuck in.’ Hongbin said.

‘I’m not sure either. I was a bit confused too when I first got it. There was one night when your leader was really tired from his schedules after the filing and I decided to take over his body to see what I could do while he was unconscious. I was going to come into the company but someone came up to me and told me she was a fan of VIXX. I didn’t really get a good look at her face since it was late at night and I couldn’t care less. But when I opened the USB to see what it was, immediately I thought it was a good material to use against your leader…’ the Dark Hakyeon thought back at how foolish he was and the guilt he was feeling now that he thought about it again.

‘Hmm. Did you write the messages on this video clip? Hyuk interrogated.

‘Huh? What do you mean?’ Hongbin asked Hyuk.

‘Well, I don’t think Hakyeon-hyung here knows his modern-day technology to even edit a video. Even our leader was really bad at it.’

‘Now that you mention it…’ Hongbin and Hyuk rewatched the clip over and over again.

Both had their doubts and was investigating the USB even more.

‘They were originally there when I received the USB…’ The Dark Hakyeon told them.

Both Hongbin and Hyuk sighed together.

‘I thought so.’

‘It’s definitely one of Hakyeon-hyung’s stupid antis again,’ Hongbin commented.

‘An anti?’ The Dark Hakyeon had no idea what they were talking about and rather, why aren’t the two of them angry at him?

‘Hakyeon-hyung has a few of them. So do all of us. It’s very common. People with too much time on their hands and only know how to spend their time to hate on other people who aren’t their favorites.’ Hyuk closed the video and slammed the laptop shut just thinking about it.

‘But to think one of them actually got into our filming. That’s some next level stalking right there,’ Hongbin said sarcastically.

‘Tell me about it! They really are getting more and more creative.’

‘And dangerous?’

‘That too.’

‘W-wait!’ The Dark Hakyeon finally decided to interrupt the heated conversation both Hongbin and Hyuk were having. ‘Why aren’t you guys mad at me? I’m the one that decided to show it to your Hakyeon!’

Both the younger ones looked at the Dark Hakyeon questionably.

‘I guess we should be angry at you…’ Hongbin said as he scratched his head.

‘But you’re just like our leader, completely illiterate when it comes to technology. We can’t really be angry at you when you barely even know how to click play on the video. You’re not the actual culprit behind this video either. Plus, you were planning on taking over Hakyeon-hyung’s body since the beginning so when you got this video in your hands, the first thing that came to mind was to utilize it right? I guess it’s normal if revenge was all you had in mind back then,’ Hyuk said.

Normal? What about this is normal at all? Shouldn’t they be angry?!

‘We’ve seen too much of these types of things already. We’re too used to them to be honest. Plus, even Hakyeon-hyung has received this type of hate and comments even before we debuted.’ Hongbin told him.

‘I think the only thing that was really shocking was the fact that he was trying to harm me but couldn’t remember anything about that incident at all,’ Hyuk said. ‘Plus, the captions at the end triggered him.’

Hongbin agreed.

Idols and celebrities have a lot of fans but they also have a lot of those who call themselves as ‘anti-fans.’ They are nowhere near to being called a fan but rather just haters who expresses their strong dislike towards a person through harsh words, illegal actions and motives in order to tell someone how much they hate a certain person. Even if that person has never done anything to harm them personally, people still find the time in their lives to ‘hate’ on someone. Their hate had no meanings behind it and definitely does not deserve any sympathy from others.

‘Hyung, do you think I’m ugly?’ Hyuk suddenly asked the Dark Hakyeon who was still in the middle of understanding the situation.

‘Huh? No! Definitely not!’

‘Haha. I got a lot of hate too in the past with people calling me ugly or too young and talentless to be an idol.’

‘Didn’t we all get that before? The ugliest and most untalented boy group of the century or something?’ Hongbin said. ‘Remember my long hair before? Everyone laughed at me about that.’

‘Oh, and our black lipsticks during Hyde?’ Hyuk giggled along.

How can they joke around about stuff like this? The Dark Hakyeon was completely lost.

‘Anyways, don’t let it get to you as well. This is the usual and honestly, we know some other idols that has had it worst. Our antis just sends us hate and messages but others have been personally attacked or target before. Even one of our sunbae got poisoned before with one of his haters putting glue in his drinks. He had to rush to the hospital immediately after it happened. Just be cautious and not let it get you too stressed,’ Hyuk told the Dark Hakyeon.

‘Okay…?’ the Dark Hakyeon could only agree to it as he had no idea how to handle the carefree situation.

‘Well, at least that’s one mystery finally solved.’ Hongbin said,’ let’s get back to practice. We still have a lot of catching up to do.’

‘Okay!’ Hyuk said as he pulled the Dark Hakyeon in for another round of stretches.

* * * * * * A/N * * * * * *

You guys don't actually think that the Dark Hakyeon was that smart to be able to film a video and edit it plus send it to Hakyeon do you? Even our precious Cha Hakyeon is a grandpa when it comes to technology xD 

Btw, do you guys know which incident I'm referring to about glue being placed in an idol's drink? (Hint: 2nd Generation idol group that is currently split into two separate groups)

So, I've decided to let the Fun Facts begin!

Fun Fact 1: The title Dream.scape is very straightforward. It's duo meaning is one) dream-like landscape and two) to escape reality through a dream.

Fun Fact 2: The epilogues of my previous two prequels The World of Us and If You all leads up to this third story that talks about the members' modern time but with a twist :)

Fun Fact 3: The main inspiration for the roles of the Dark Taekwoon and Dark Hakyeon is the mythological creatures - Incubus & Sucubus