Part I - Nothing is as it seems

Where is the perfect place to ignore the entire world and live in your own fantasy?

Jimin believed that the PC cafés of South Korea came in pretty close to achieving that goal. They were hidden in the corner of busy street or down an alleyway, a dark cave-like place where mostly male gamers left their realities behind and let themselves be consumed by the video games.  Jimin had been holed up in a private gaming room on his own with only the light from the computer screen as company for nearly 15 hours now. If you saw him from afar, he looked like the typical male college student who spent too much time at the PC café. His black hair was messy and ruffled, his face unshaven; he was wearing a baggy grey t-shirt and black lounge paints and a loose grey hoodie. He blended in well with the rest of the gamers in the café.

For anyone who bothered to look long enough or paid enough attention, they might see a hint of something surreal about Jimin. Past his shabby exterior, they would notice his high cheekbones, his rounded smooth jawline, and his elongated dark eyes, they would realise how ethereally handsome he was. And if they looked even closer, they might notice the cold glint in his eye, his awfully sinister smile or the smoothness of his movements, which would definitely send a cold shiver down anyone’s back.

But Jimin was usually very good at keeping this side of him hidden from view.

Jimin was surprised that she didn’t come and drag him out of the place already. It must be a busy day for her, which was good because he was about to jump to the next rank in his game. And just being in the PC café was a wonderful feeling, being able to feed off the stagnant energy of people being indifferent to the world around them. He had built up quite a gathering of people at this PC café so the usual hollow feeling in his chest was kept at bay, at least for the time being.

But it looked like Jimin spoke too soon because there was suddenly a knock on the door. Jimin ignored it; turning the volume of the black headphones he was wearing a few degree louder. But his hearing was still a lot better than most and he could not ignore the second more urgent knock.

He finally called out, “Why are you bothering to knock when you can open the door yourself Seulgi?”

Jimin had locked the door from the inside but he knew that wasn’t going to stop her from coming in. The locked door suddenly clicked and unlocked itself from the inside of the room. Jimin shook his head, wondering why she even bothered with the formality of knocking in the first place. And girl dressed smartly in all black shirt and pants and her hair tied up in a high ponytail, looking like she was going more to funeral rather than a casual outing to a PC café, briskly walked in.

“Boss, we’ve got to go. They are going to find you if you stay here.” Seulgi said purposely, an unimpressed expression on her face. Jimin had always thought that she would be a lot prettier if she only smiled rather than always keeping her stern eyebrows furrowed and always looking irritated.

“Let them find me. I can deal with them when they are here. What are you afraid of?” Jimin replied neither surprised nor anxious, as he continued to click away on his game, paying no heed to her warning or even sparing a single glance at her. “I’m still finishing my meal. The energy here is steady now. Do you know how long it took to gather this energy?”

The meal he was referring to was not food but Seulgi knew exactly what he was implying.

“I thought you hated cleaning the mess afterwards,” She replied carefully, as if placing a bait, desperately hoping he would take it since there wasn’t a lot of time on hand.

Jimin paused for a moment, his mouth scrunching up into a frown, letting his opponent attack him in the game, while he was imagining the consequences of staying here for longer.

“You have a point. It would be such a pain to clean up afterwards. But one more game and we’ll go. I’ll be fast,” He said, still no urgency in his step and his eyes still intently on the computer screen.

“I think they will be here in about 5 minutes boss.” She reasoned. Seulgi had been on lookout and Jimin knew her estimates were not usually wrong. But there was something that was more irritating at this moment. “Boss, Taemin is already at the back waiting.”

It was at this moment, Jimin face changed and gave Seulgi a menacing glare. And it felt like the temperature of the air had suddenly dropped 20 degrees.

“Stop calling me boss. I told you so many times already. Jimin is fine.”

“We have got to go-”

“Ok, ok. I’ve got your point. Stop nagging please. I’m getting a headache listening to you.” His words were kind but the look on his face was cold and almost threatening.

But Seulgi wasn’t on this job for the first time. She ignored the look and persisted, “Pardon me, but neither you and me can actually get headaches the way we are now.”

However, Jimin immediately reverted to his easy-going self, the previous cold glare from his face now hidden.

“I’m talking about metaphoric headaches, my dear Seulgi.”

She raised her eyebrow, which Jimin chose to ignore.

“Ok, let’s go.” Jimin said, finally standing up.

There is black jeep waiting at the back of the PC café was blasting rock music. Jimin climbed into the back seat while she took the front passenger seat.

“So what’s the deal?” Jimin asked, looking at both her and Taemin in the driver seat as he made himself comfortable in the back seat, leaning back and crossing his legs lazily, not bothering with the seatbelt, which was useless for him anyway.

“Drive Taemin,” She answered, “I’ll explain along the way.”

Taemin who was leisurely che