Yeonjung places a large bowl of jajangmyeon in front of Jinsook, successfully grabbing her attention away from the monitor and to the black noodles in front of her.

She turns to Yeonjung with wide eyes.

“Eat up. You deserve a break. It’s my turn,” Yeonjung tells her.

Jinsook breaks into the widest grin as she jumps out of the seat, giving Yeonjung a brief (but tight) hug and prancing away with the bowl of jajangmyeon in her hands.

Yeonjung watches her with a shake of her head. She had been trying to pry Jinsook away from the computers for days. The other girl’s been putting extra effort into her work ever since their Pocheon discovery lately.

Hacking into the security cameras of a top-secret facility was no easy task. Obviously.

Yeonjung should’ve figured earlier that the only thing that would stop Jinsook from working before she collapsed was a bowl of jajangmyeon. Obviously.

“Bot. Pocheon site, please,” Yeonjung speaks out, prompting the computer to bring up the hologrammed map in response. She takes a deep breath, repeats the intentions of the group like a mantra in her head, before diving in.

01100101

Juyeon squints her eyes at the glare of the sun. The rays peek through the leaves of the tree they’re sitting underneath of, like light seeping through blinds at daybreak.

Having spent weeks at Hyperreal already, Juyeon would like to think she’s gotten used to the sensations. She wants to stop thinking of the technicalities of everything; for once, she wants to enjoy herself without the unnecessary desire to figure out everything around her.

After all, Hyperreal is not meant to be understood. It’s meant to be taken in, absorbed, and basked in. Not investigated and probed like an unidentifiable object found by a curious group of kids.

So Juyeon figured, how can she revel in the full-dive virtual reality experience if she’s constantly trying to determine how Seong has managed to pull off such an advanced brain-computer interface and eerily realistic haptic feedback?

A psychic would certainly get a headache trying to delve into the workings of her brain.

Luckily, it hasn’t been much of a difficult task to forget and enjoy herself lately. Mainly because of a red-haired Chinese girl with a cheeky smile, lame jokes, and a laugh that could cure her of any melancholy.

And Juyeon has made sure to let her know of that.

“You’re amazing.”

Mei Qi’s cheeks flush immediately at the words, turning away from Juyeon in embarrassment.

“If you tell me things like that so easily, I can’t look you in the eyes,” Mei Qi mutters.

Juyeon smirks before waving a half-eaten sandwich in front of Mei Qi. “You’re amazing because this sandwich is delicious.”

Mei Qi refrains from telling her that she didn’t actually make the sandwich, she took it from the café.

“But I know it’s from the café,” Juyeon whispers.

Mei Qi winces. So much for refraining.

“You caught me…” she murmurs.

“It’s fine, I understand,” Juyeon flashes her a grin.

“I didn’t know what to prepare, but then I saw these sandwiches at the café and you know, I really like them, so suddenly I really wanted you to try them too, but,” she sighs exasperatingly, “I should’ve tried harder and prepared better…”

“It’s fine!” Juyeon tells her with a chuckle, “it’s the thought that matters. Don’t get worked up, it’s been a pretty fun date so far. Ten out of ten.”

Mei Qi blushes again. She’s gotta learn how to get used to this. “Date?”

Juyeon her head. “Is it not?”

Mei Qi blinks at her for a moment before giving her a smile and lying down on the blanket. Closing her eyes to shield them from the sun, she pats the empty spot beside her.

“It is. Now lie down and look at the clouds with me like they do in romance movies,” she jokes.

Juyeon settles beside her eagerly, lying on her side to face Mei Qi so she could see the outline of her profile; smell the scent of her perfume; admire the dot on her nose and the loose strays of hair dancing against the breeze.

She smiles – subconsciously – because the marvel in front of her can’t just be a vision or a figment of her imagination, nor can she possibly be a carefully programmed sequence of code controlled by a powerful computer. She can’t be.

Is Seong that advanced that they can blur the line between real and not real?

There may be a lot of things about this game that Juyeon can’t comprehend, but Mei Qi is no insensate entity. No amount of zeros and ones and algorithms could make up someone like her. She can’t be like every other NPC that Juyeon has encountered in Hyperreal.

Juyeon is convinced. And all at the same time, she’s absolutely enthralled.

01100101

To Juyeon’s luck, the arcade she frequents at in the real world exists in Hyperreal too.

Sort of. It’s under a different name and the exterior certainly looks different, but the interior is the same and the sense of nostalgia that envelops her in the real world is undoubtedly the same in-game.

And the Sinchon alleyway looks a whole lot crummier in Hyperreal than in reality.

The man at the counter has Juyeon giving him a second look and staring longer than a regular person should. He could pass off as the son of the elderly man who helms the same arcade in reality. They have such an uncanny resemblance that Juyeon wonders if the Hyperreal developers have really based this constructed virtual world on real records for accuracy. It wouldn't surprise her. They've already put this much effort into making it realistic, why not go the extra mile?

“How much for a playing card?” Juyeon asks, reaching for the virtual Hyperreal wons in her pocket.

The man sends her off with enough credits to try out every game in the arcade. She heads straight for the claw machine.

Juyeon figures she’s going to need some practice if she’s to successfully woo Mei Qi with her skills.

01100101

“Gahhh! Damn it...”

Juyeon’s shoulders drop as she stares sadly at the stuffed panda through the glass. It had dropped just mere centimetres away from the hole. If only the damn claws just held on to it for three more seconds, that panda would’ve been hers!

She takes a deep breath and purses her lips in determination as she swipes her playing card for another round.

To her disappointment, the machine beeps to tell her she had ran out of playing credits. Fully aware of the realization that she had just used up all of her credits on the claw machine, she heaves a sigh as she lets her fingers run through her hair. It’s been three hours and she can just tell the man at the counter is itching to go home–

(No, Juyeon scolds herself for momentarily forgetting that he’s an NPC, he doesn’t have a real home to go back to. He’s just a virtual character. He runs even when no one is online. How could she forget!)

She leaves empty-handed, but more determined than ever before.

01100101

The buzz of her cellphone jolts Juyeon out of her concentration as she jumps in her seat.

“Answer,” Juyeon says.

At once, as if the her phone had heard her, Xiao’s face emerges as a small 3D hologram floating above Juyeon’s phone.

“What are you up to?”

“Nothing much,” Juyeon answers distractedly.

“Clearly,” Xiao drawls. “Why am I looking at your ceiling?”

Juyeon pries a hand off her mouse and reaches over to her phone, propping it up so Xiao could see her. She returns her attention to the monitor in front of her.

“Are you busy with something?”

“I’m trying to hack into a claw machine.”

“You already know how. You position the claw precisely over the center and slam the red button twice.”

“Not in the real world!” Juyeon retorts, “and that’s not a hack, that’s a technique. Big difference. The latter is allowed and justifies all my completely fair successes...for your information…”

Xiao rolls her eyes, but Juyeon misses it. “Whatever. Where are you trying to hack into a claw machine?”

“Hyperreal,” Juyeon answers too absentmindedly. She’s too busy working at her computer to hear Xiao groan.

“God, seriously? And why can’t you just win fairly? You can’t hack your way into everything!”

“I need a 100% success rate.”

“For what?”

“I’m trying to score a girl, Xiao! Let me be.”

Cheng Xiao snickers. “Same one you told me about before? You’re putting this much effort into wooing a virtual Hyperreal character?”

“Hey, she could be a fellow player!” Juyeon interjects sternly.

“Juyeon, she could be an NPC for all you know.”

“Well, I’m gonna find out! Somehow. And then I’ll meet her in real life and introduce her to you. She’s really cool, I think you’ll like her. I’m going to figure it out.”

Xiao only gives her a look, but Juyeon can already tell what it means without a blatant exchange of words.

Because without breaking the rules, there isn’t really a way to find out whether someone in Hyperreal is a fellow player or some non-playable character that was skillfully created by the developers for gameplay.

Xiao reminds her of the reality. “You can’t just go ‘hey girl, you’re real, aren’t you?’ without triggering alarms. And we both know you can’t afford to break any more rules. Besides, you’re not even in Seong’s Hyperreal records, considering you snuck your way in. I thought you were supposed to be trying to stay invisible?”

Juyeon sighs. “Let me have my fun, will you? Please?”

“…Sorry. Hey, listen," Xiao breaks into a sympathetic smile, "it’s cheating if you use a hack to win a girl, by the way. Do you really have to mess with the system just to woo someone? Where’d all your charm go?”

Juyeon narrows her eyes at Xiao. “I’m still pretty charming!” she replies defensively before a pop-up flashes on her screen. “A-ha! I did it! Now the claw machine will work in my favour! Do you see this?”

She gives herself a round of applause as she falls back into her chair in relief.

“You amaze me, Son Juyeon,” comes Xiao’s voice from her phone.

Juyeon turns to look at Xiao’s hologrammed face and gives her a wink. “Damn right I do."

01100101

The machine lights up to signal a congratulatory success. Juyeon reaches down and pulls out the stuffed panda and bear.

Mei Qi accepts the toys with a wide grin, touched with Juyeon’s efforts and slightly impressed that she had managed to win two toys at the same time from the claw machine.

Juyeon tries not to let her smugness show, but Mei Qi could probably see through her nonchalance.

“Is there a trick to this? You know something I don’t?” Mei Qi asks with a quirked eyebrow.

“No way…it’s all skill with a bit of luck,” Juyeon answers with a wink.

She could've gotten it in one go, but Juyeon had purposely botched up the first few attempts until she finally snagged herself a win. Figured that’d be less obvious.

Juyeon grabs her hand and Mei Qi doesn’t hesitate to lace their fingers. They've been doing that a lot lately.

“Come. If you win against me in Street Fighter, I’ll pay for our next three dates.”

A corner of Mei Qi’s lips lifts at the sudden challenge. “You’re quite ambitious. Who says we’re going to have any more dates together? I didn’t agree.”

Juyeon lifts up their intertwined fingers. “You're holding my hand. Haven't I already won you over?”

Flustered, Mei Qi stutters, “I- well- you grabbed mine first!”

“Well you didn’t pull away.”

Mei Qi promptly pulls her hand away, eliciting a childish frown on Juyeon’s face almost immediately. The sight makes Mei Qi chuckle. The grin persists on her face when she grabs Juyeon’s hand and sees her immediately light up again.

Juyeon was charming, but Mei Qi can hold her own too.

“You are really the cutest person ever,” Mei Qi notes as she walks off, pulling Juyeon behind her by the hand.

“That’s a yes to my challenge?” Juyeon calls out.

“Be ready to lose and treat me to three dates!”

Juyeon breaks into a grin. “That’s a yes to three dates too. It’s a deal! You know, I was the unbeatable Street Fighter champion in high school!”

01100101

Mei Qi’s whoops and cheers echo in the empty arcade as she pumps her hands in the air, teasing Juyeon with her tongue stuck out between red lips.

“But…how are you so good? Are you sure you’ve never played before?!”

Mei Qi dances in her seat and hums some unfamiliar tune. “I won! Three free dinners for me!”

Juyeon keeps the petulant pout on her lips, but seeing Mei Qi dance around in such cheerful celebration makes it hard to suppress an admiring smile.

On the screen, ‘I’m the strongest woman in the world!’ taunts her of her crushing defeat. Juyeon would be lying if she admitted that it didn’t hurt her ego.

She grabs Mei Qi’s arm. “Rematch.”

Mei Qi looks back at Juyeon's wide, pleading puppy dog eyes that could probably get anyone to do anything for her. But Mei Qi won’t fall for that.

“No way, a deal’s a deal,” Mei Qi sings, tapping Juyeon on the nose before pulling both of them up from the seat. She wraps herself around Juyeon's arm and looks at her expectantly. “Can I use up one of those date coupons tonight? I’m pretty hungry after all this playing, winning, and destroying-Son-Juyeoning.”

Juyeon groans the entire time it takes for Mei Qi to drag her out of the arcade. She grouses like a child, but truthfully, Juyeon’s more than happy to take Mei Qi out and spend more time with her.

The longer she spends in Hyperreal, the more it becomes like a true dream. Juyeon’s starting to believe the game really does live up to its tagline.

‘Have Fun And May Your Dreams Come True’ in clear white letters of promise.

01100101

“My father was telling us over dinner the other night about a player they had to ban for a week because he kept robbing banks in the game,” Xiao says with an amused snort. “What do you think of this dress?”

She turns towards Juyeon with her hands at her hips. The door of the changing room sports a screen displaying a frilly black dress on a virtual body that mirrors Xiao’s movements behind the door.

“Pretty…but it screams high-school-piano-recital. Is there something more mature looking? How about a tight fitted dress? You have a killer bod, you know. I’d show it off if I were you,” Juyeon remarks before dropping her voice to a grumble. “And what even is the point of advertising Hyperreal as where all your wildest dreams can come true if there are still laws…”

“It’s an anniversary gala, Juyeon. Very fancy and grand. There’ll be lots of notable people there.”

“So?”

“So,” Xiao starts impatiently, “I can’t dress up like I’m going to some bachelorette cocktail party. My parents wouldn’t like it either.”

Juyeon rolls her eyes. “Okaaaay. Geez. I get it. Can’t show off your curves and other normal parts of a woman’s body. So old-fashioned,” she shakes her head in disapproval, a tsk leaving her lips. “That dress still doesn’t work though. Find something more extravagant.”

Xiao lets out a chuckle, pressing a button on the wall. The screen on the door promptly transitions to the logo of the shop as Xiao scrolls through a three-dimensional simulated array of dresses. She taps on one and immediately, the door transitions back to her virtual body displaying the new dress.

“Ooh, I like that,” Juyeon says, pointing at the red dress on the screen.

Truthfully, there is nothing in this store that Juyeon could buy without emptying her bank account dry, but whenever Cheng Xiao drags her out for a shopping trip, she takes it as an opportunity to window shop and admire pretty clothing she could never wear.

Xiao smiles in satisfaction. “I’ll take it!” she shouts to no one in particular, but the screen lights up with a fluorescent check mark and a graphic of a shopping cart. “Anyways…what were we talking about?...Oh right. The game. Of course there must be laws in Hyperreal. Every video game has rules. Even if you can just log out and reset with a clean slate, they flag you with warnings.”

“I know, but it takes away from the whole ‘world of endless possibilities’ gimmick,” Juyeon grumbles.

“Because that’s what it is. A gimmick. Besides, every world needs order, even virtual ones. It wouldn’t be very realistic if you could murder someone with no repercussions. When they say wildest dreams and endless possibilities, they mean legal dreams and possibilities,” Xiao answers matter-of-factly. “Do you only think of illegal activities when they say ‘do what you want’?”

“Well, duh, don’t you?” Juyeon replies immediately. “What would be the point? If I can just do the same things in the real world?”

“There are certain things people can’t do in the real world, you know. Because of whatever unlucky circumstances. A lot of people have different desires they can’t easily fulfill, Juyeon. It can be as major as starting a business or as minor as trying a food you’re allergic to in reality. Exploring what-ifs and trying new things. Loving who you want to love with no repercussions. No judgement, no shame. If you see it this way, it really does seem like a utopia.”

“…For someone who hates Hyperreal, you advertise it real well.”

“I don’t hate it! I just acknowledge both the good and the bad it brings,” Xiao says as the changing room door flies open. “Now help me look for shoes. This shopping trip will really be the only enjoyable part of my day anyways.”

01100101

The multiple extravagant chandeliers hanging from the ceiling is a little too excessive for Jiyeon’s taste.

The room is already bright enough with all the fluorescent lights. If the gazillion ornate lamps adorning the pilasters around the hall were , Jiyeon thinks she’d surely go blind.

But they probably don’t work anyways. They’re for decorative purposes. Like the fake flower centerpieces on each roundtable. And the gigantic statue of a woman shooting an arrow in the middle of the room.

The whole affair is hopelessly flashy and unreasonably lavish, but well, Jiyeon has a responsibility to be there. It’s not like she can just give a hard pass and spend the night with Xuan Yi anyways (which sounds a lot more ideal at the moment), so she might as well enjoy herself.

(Which means shamelessly indulging in the cocktail shrimp and having her fair share of champagne – moderately, of course. This was not the place to get drunk.)

She smiles kindly at the young man in front of her. He looks to be around her age, fingers wrapped gingerly around a still-full champagne glass. He was handsome and all in his dashing tuxedo and satin bowtie. Kind personality, too, and a nice smile.

With all the subtle advances he’s been making towards Jiyeon all night, perhaps she’d even give him a chance. But unfortunately for him, she swings the other way. Jiyeon can’t even remember the poor guy's name. What is it does he do anyways? Probably a son of a chaebol family. Maybe an heir to some multi-national corporation. Or was he a nephew of that hedge fund manager?

Jiyeon zones back into their conversation. It had already slipped her mind.

To her relief, another person calls for him, consequently putting an end to their conversation.

“It was a great pleasure to speak with you, Ms. Jiyeon,” he tells her.

“It was wonderful to meet you too,” Jiyeon pauses and narrows her eyes, trying to recall his name.

“Kihyun,” he answers for her.

“Ah, right! Kihyun. Sorry, it’s just that you're a splitting image of my cousin! Who knows, maybe we’re related and you’re his long-lost brother. Wouldn’t that be funny? It’ll be like a soap opera.”

She lets out a chuckle (or her ‘social laugh’, as she calls it. Rehearsed and feigned for functions like this. She’s a pro).

If Kihyun wasn’t already offended at his name being forgotten, it certainly made his kind smile falter at the slightest when Jiyeon pointed out his resemblance to her cousin. There goes all his attempts at wooing her.

But he doesn’t twitch his eyes for long and bows a goodbye before dismissing himself, leaving Jiyeon all to herself. She finally takes a sip from the glass she had been itching to drink from ever since he began talking to her. He wasn’t drinking at all and it made her feel awkward.

Jiyeon sighs. Attending all these events can be so exhausting sometimes, no matter how many she’s been to.

“Jiyeon!” chirps a voice from behind her.

She takes one last sip from her champagne glass before putting on her best smile and turning around. She finds her father with two familiar faces; another man and his daughter looking pretty in her red dress.

Jiyeon suddenly feels unconscious about her own coral pink ensemble. Maybe she should’ve dressed more extravagantly.

“Good evening, Ms. Kim Jiyeon,” the old man greets her.

“Jiyeon, say hello to Mr. Cheng and his daughter,” her father urges her with a smile.

Jiyeon obeys with a polite bow and offers her winning smile, like the filial well-mannered daughter that she is. These gatherings may be a thorn on her side at times, but if her presence makes her father happy, then it’s the least Jiyeon could do.

Besides, they were great opportunities to gather intel.

“Mr. Cheng was just telling me that he had been promoted,” the enthusiasm in her father’s voice was endearing, “to an executive position at Seong Industries.”

Mr. Cheng laughs and nods his head humbly.

As if that’s something to be proud about…, Jiyeon mutters to herself in her head.

“Congratulations, Mr. Cheng,” she says. “Seong is really so lucky to have you at the helm. If you ever need someone to test out your new cybernetic reading device, I’d love to give it a sincere go.”

This elicits another humble chuckle from the man. As he turns to Jiyeon’s father to tell him how nice of a daughter he has, Jiyeon shifts her eyes to catch a glance at Mr. Cheng’s daughter.

Like Jiyeon, she stood with her shoulders back, head held high with just the right amount of dignity; prideful without the air of cockiness.

Unlike Jiyeon, she had on a neutral face and opted to look around the room in disinterest that couldn’t be any more obvious.

She doesn’t even notice when their fathers’ attention is swept away by a pair of other fancy-dressing intimidating adults.

Jiyeon grabs a glass of champagne from the tray of a passing attendant and offers it to the girl.

“Beautiful dress, Xiao,” Jiyeon notes.

Cheng Xiao grabs the glass and takes a sip without hesitation.

“Thank you,” she replies, eyes drifting to the chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, “dressing up is the only fun part of these things.”

Jiyeon smirks. They had a lot of things in common, but ‘close friends’ was an unrealistic label for the two of them. A ‘professional, social acquaintance’ was more like it – as much as the socialite bloggers, who like to stick their noses into everything upper-class, might want to whisper about them otherwise.

“So,” Jiyeon starts casually, moving to stand beside Xiao and join her in her perusing of guests, “does Seong have any internship openings?”

“I’ve lost count of how many times you’ve asked me this, but the answer is the same every time,” Xiao says indifferently, “No.”

“It’s worth a shot to ask.”

“How would I know anyways?”

Jiyeon shrugs. “Your parents work there. I’d assume you know something. I mean, look around. Everyone’s sons and daughters are kissing to up every relevant person that their parents introduce them to. It’s a room full of Korea’s future. There isn’t anyone here who doesn’t have a semblance of interest.”

“Except me.”

Jiyeon can only smirk again because they are so alike that it’s funny.

“Really? So you don’t know anything at all?”

Xiao sighs as she finally turns to face Jiyeon. “Listen, it’s important for my parents that I’m here so here I am. It doesn’t really matter what I think.”

Jiyeon narrows her eyes. Xiao was like a direct mirror image of her – and something about that thought alone was unsettling. Distrustful.

“Also…considering who your father is and all your accomplishments that I’ve heard of, you’ve got a far brighter future ahead of you. So why are you so interested in Seong Industries?” Xiao asks with a raised eyebrow.

She smiles. “Let’s face it. Seong Industries is Seoul’s future. Th–“

Jiyeon’s rehearsed answer to such question (she’s done this too many times, you see) is interrupted by her clutch vibrating in her hands.

“Excuse me,” she says to Xiao with a courteous smile before turning her back and reaching into her purse.

“Jiyeon!” Jinsook’s shrill voice on the other end almost shatters Jiyeon’s eardrum. She looks around cautiously before retreating to an emptier side of the hall.

“What?!” she whispers.

“Sorry for the sudden call, but I thought we’d let you know of our sudden change in plans. We’re going on a little field trip right now,” Jinsook says, “Sojung and I.”

“Huh?”

“Just some scouting, that’s all.”

“Where are you going at this hour?”

Suddenly, she hears Yeonjung’s voice. “Pocheon.”

a/n: the highlight is fancy boxiao at the fancy party but u know jiyeon would rather chill with xuanyi
i planned this fic to be 10 chapters long but maybe that's starting to look unrealistic lol or not idk i'll just write as i go! thanks for the subscribers and comments <3 you make my heart swell