Limbo

Chapter 13: The Encroaching City

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Jongdae spent the rest of the day contemplating Jongin’s behavior, but the moment he entered Limbo that night, all thoughts of Jongin fled his mind. He didn’t see Junmyeon anywhere. Instead, Jongdae found his attention snatched by a shimmering white light floating a foot off the ground in front of him. With cautious steps, Jongdae approached the light with a frown. He was certain that he had never seen anything like this before in Limbo, and he couldn’t recall Junmyeon saying anything about blinding lights that hover in the air.

He jumped when Junmyeon’s voice came from behind him. “This is your first time seeing one of those, right?”

Jongdae whirled around, furrowed brows smoothing as a smile overtook his face. “What is this?” he asked, pointing at the light.

“That,” Junmyeon nodded at the light as he stepped forward to stand beside Jongdae, “is a portal. Remember when I told you about meeting Kyungsoo? I traveled through one of these.”

Jongdae scrutinized the portal. “You can meet other souls with these?”

“Yes,” Junmyeon confirmed, “They appear whenever a new soul has entered Limbo. Kyungsoo thought that they form because the entrance of a new soul disrupts some sort of equilibrium that Limbo has established and that these portals stay until Limbo reestablishes that equilibrium.”

Jongdae made a noise of amazement as he circled the light, wanting to observe it from all angles. “How long has this been here?”

“Not very long, actually. I walked two laps around the lake after its appearance and saw you staring at it just as I finished my second lap.” Junmyeon watched Jongdae with an amused smile. “Want to go through it?”

At that, Jongdae stopped staring at the portal to gape at Junmyeon. “I can use it?”

Junmyeon shrugged, stepping closer to the portal until its light blurred his image. “I don’t see why not. I’ll be with you the entire time, so I think we should be okay.” Upon seeing Jongdae hesitate, Junmyeon retreated a couple of paces. “Of course, if you don’t want to, I won’t try to drag you through by force.”

“It’s not that I don’t want to,” Jongdae hurried to explain, “It’s just…we’ll be able to come back, right?”

“We’ll definitely be able to come back,” Junmyeon promised, “After all, I visited Kyungsoo in his space and got back just fine, right?”

With Junmyeon’s reassurances at hand, Jongdae walked forward until he was close enough to reach out and touch the light. He glanced at Junmyeon, and the other smiled back. Taking a deep breath, Jongdae prepared to step through the portal when Junmyeon suddenly murmured, “Wait.”

Jongdae halted, lowering his foot and shooting Junmyeon an inquisitive look. Junmyeon seemed to brace himself for something, and then Jongdae felt hesitant fingers snaking around his hand, grasping his wrist in a delicate hold.

Speechless, Jongdae gaped at their linked hands and then back up at Junmyeon, who bit his lip as he gauged Jongdae’s reaction.

“You seemed nervous, so I thought…well…” Junmyeon trailed off, unsure of what to make of Jongdae’s silence, “Is this okay?”

Jongdae tried to swallow the lump in his throat. “It’s okay with me as long as it’s okay with you,” he croaked, half-expecting Junmyeon to let go.

Instead, Junmyeon’s grip tightened by a fraction, and Jongdae had to force himself not to think about the fact that Junmyeon was holding his hand as they reached out to the portal. The light engulfed them, effectively distracting Jongdae as he squeezed his eyes shut to avoid the blinding brightness. Something yanked Jongdae and threw him onto a surface that gave way under his weight. A gritty substance slipped under his clothes, stabbing at his skin uncomfortably. Jongdae sputtered, spitting something that felt like sand out of his mouth.

He opened his eyes and squinted at his surroundings. The pine forest that he had become familiar with was gone. Instead, two surfaces – separated by a fine line – stretched before him. The expanse that Jongdae was lying on was definitely sand, and Jongdae confirmed that it was as he ran his fingers through the grains, watching as they flowed out of his palm like a small waterfall.

In contrast, the surface on the other side of the line was as smooth as a mirror. It reminded Jongdae of the lake back in the forest, and he recognized that it was water as soon as he crawled over and dipped his hand in it. He pushed himself to his feet, dusting off stray sand particles from his hands and clothes as he scanned the area. The portal had dropped them off at a beach.

Suddenly remembering that Junmyeon had been with him, Jongdae spun around, looking for the other. He relaxed when he found Junmyeon standing behind him with an amused smile on his face.

“Are you done exploring?” Junmyeon teased. Jongdae realized that Junmyeon had been watching him as he poked at the sand and the sea.

“I couldn’t help it,” Jongdae whined, “I didn’t realize we were going to appear at a beach.”

Junmyeon’s smile widened. “You looked like a kid who had never been to a beach before,” he teased.

Jongdae splashed some water at him in retaliation, relishing in the sound of Junmyeon’s laughter. “Are we alone here?” he asked as he glanced around, “You said that we could meet other souls by traveling through the portal, right?”

Junmyeon stopped laughing as he copied Jongdae and surveyed their surroundings. Aside from the two of them, the only other thing was the shimmering portal that led back to Junmyeon’s forest. “There should be, but it looks like the owner of this space isn’t around.”

“Should we go look for them?” Jongdae suggested.

Junmyeon shook his head. “It’s best if we don’t. We need to be able to return to my forest before this portal disappears. Otherwise, we’ll be stuck on this beach until portals appear again. You might be okay, no matter how things turn out, but I’d rather not risk it. I prefer my forest over this beach anyway.”

Junmyeon’s reasoning was sound, and as Jongdae looked around, he couldn’t see any other shining portals in the distance. If they wandered off and didn’t make it back in time before this portal closed up, then Junmyeon would be trapped here until another soul entered Limbo and disrupted equilibrium again. Even then, could it be guaranteed that the new portal would lead back to Junmyeon’s forest and not some space owned by someone else?

Droplets of water splashed onto his face and shirt, and Jongdae instinctively flinched back with a small sound of surprise. He looked up to see Junmyeon sporting a mischievous smirk and poised to send another wave of water at him. Jongdae raised his arms and turned away, feeling the water hit his side and his leg. “Hey!”

“Revenge is served,” Junmyeon laughed.

“That’s not fair,” Jongdae complained, “I only got you once!” He bent down, lowering his hand and flinging another arc of water at Junmyeon. “Now we’re even.”

Unfortunately, Junmyeon wasn’t one to leave it at that, and the two of them found themselves chasing each other up and down the beach, splashing each other amidst high-pitched laughter. By the time they were tired out from the running, Jongdae’s pajamas were thoroughly soaked. Junmyeon wasn’t any better off as they laid on the beach, and sand stuck to their wet skin as they struggled to catch their breath.

The burning in Jongdae’s chest had just started to vanish when Junmyeon abruptly sat up with a cry, “The portal!”

At the panic in Junmyeon’s voice, Jongdae shot up as well and turned to see that the shimmering light was beginning to fade. Realizing that the portal must be closing up, Jongdae scrambled to his feet alongside Junmyeon, and the two of them sprinted to it as fast as they could. Junmyeon held out his hand as they ran, and Jongdae grasped it without thinking. He saw Junmyeon’s other hand reach out, and then the world turned upside down as the light blinded him again. Once more, Jongdae found himself hitting the ground. Roots and twigs dug into his back, and Jongdae knew that they had returned to the pine forest.

He opened his eyes and took in the comforting sight of pine needles covering the sky, noticing that his vision was growing dimmer by the second. Knowing that he didn’t have much time left, Jongdae twisted around to look for Junmyeon, breathing a sigh of relief when he saw that the other had made it back with him. The portal itself had vanished, signaling that Limbo’s equilibrium had been restored.

Like the portal, Jongdae’s body was beginning to fade as well. He laid on his back, watching as the treetops grew darker and darker until everything went black. The soft mattress of his bed replaced the hard ground, and Jongdae once again blinked awake to the pale yellow sunlight filtering through his blinds.

Upon waking up, Jongdae immediately jumped out of bed to harass Baekhyun with the details of what happened. Then, after eating breakfast, Jongdae called Dr. Zhang and recounted his experience with the portal. Baekhyun sat next to him, hanging off every word.

“Ah, yes, I’ve seen a portal when I spent time in Limbo as well,” Dr. Zhang murmured, “I never had a chance to travel through one while I was meeting Kris.” Jongdae heard the sound of rustling papers, and then Dr. Zhang asked, “Could you describe what it was like to use the portal?”

Jongdae furrowed his brows as he tried to explain the blinding light and the sensation of being yanked out of Junmyeon’s space and into someone else’s. “And we ended up on a deserted beach. Junmyeon-hyung and I stayed there until the portal started to disappear, and then we took the portal back to Junmyeon-hyung’s space,” Jongdae explained, “Can I ask you something, Dr. Zhang?”

“Go right ahead.”

“Well,” Jongdae paused for a moment, trying to organize his thoughts, “you know how Junmyeon’s space is a pine forest, and I just said that the space we traveled to was a beach. Does each soul in Limbo have a different environment for its space?”

“Judging from the data that I’ve collected so far,” Dr. Zhang said, “each soul has a unique environment, and I have a theory that the environment reflects something along the lines of the soul’s nature or disposition.”

“Uh,” Jongdae responded, not quite understanding what the medium was trying to say. Baekhyun leaned forward and asked, “Could you elaborate on that, Dr. Zhang?”

“Of course!” Dr. Zhang replied energetically, “I’ll use Kris’ case as an example. He was framed for a crime that he didn’t commit, so his death was filled with resentment and anger. His space in Limbo was on the side of an active volcano, and there were always streams of lava flowing across the rock. Limbo translated his wrath into fire and his environment was one that reflected his rage at the person who framed him.”

Jongdae nodded slowly, understanding what Dr. Zhang was trying to get at. “And in Junmyeon’s case, he died in fear, so…maybe the forest reflects a desire to hide or to find somewhere safe?”

“Exactly.”

“Does this mean that two souls can have the same environment, as in two souls both having a forest in their space?”

“Yes, that can happen,” Dr. Zhang confirmed, “After all, it’s not like only one person can ever die in anger or in fear.”

“But you just said that each soul has a unique environment,” Baekhyun protested.

“I did,” Dr. Zhang conceded, “Because based on the little data that I have, there are still minor differences in the environments even if two souls died in similar ways. Take Oh Sehun, for example.”

Upon hearing the name, Jongdae and Baekhyun stared at each other with wide eyes. Over the phone, Dr. Zhang prattled on, unaware of the small crisis the two were having.

“Sehun was Kris’ adopted younger brother, and from what I gathered, Sehun died after avenging Kris, but even after killing the person who framed Kris, Sehun still felt anger and hatred. One of my past patients came into contact with Sehun, and they told me that Sehun’s space was also on the side of an active volcano. I asked them to describe the place further, and they told me that the volcano would actually erupt at times.”

“Holy ,” Baekhyun murmured, pinching the bridge of his nose between his fingers.

Meanwhile, Jongdae’s mind was racing. A sudden epiphany churned the contents of his stomach like a maelstrom as he thought back to the article that he and Baekhyun had read a while back. If he could remember correctly, the article had said that Oh Sehun had been found dead. Dr. Zhang mentioned that Sehun died after killing the person who had framed Kris. The only other dead person the article talked about was…

Jongdae swallowed. “Dr. Zhang?” he said, hyperaware of the way his voice trembled.

There was a pause. “Yes?”

“The person who framed Kris…was it someone called Do Kyungsoo?”

There was a longer pause this time, then Dr. Zhang quietly asked, “How did you know?”

“A-A while back,” Jongdae stammered, “Junmyeon mentioned talking to someone called Kyungsoo in Limbo, so Baekhyun and I did some searching on our own and found a news article that talked about Sehun’s and Kyungsoo’s deaths.” He cast a terrified glance at Baekhyun, who wore a similar expression of horror. “Dr. Zhang, is it safe for Junmyeon to talk to Kyung–”

“So Do Kyungsoo is also in Limbo,” Dr. Zhang interrupted. His words, although soft, carried the weight of a thousand anvils.

It made Jongdae wonder if Dr. Zhang wanted to avenge Kris, too.

“Ah, yes, it seems like he is,” Jongdae fumbled, “Do you think it’s safe for Junmyeon to be speaking to Kyungsoo?”

He expected the medium to say no, to say that Kyungsoo was too dangerous, and to say that Junmyeon should keep his distance, but to Jongdae’s surprise, Dr. Zhang merely hummed and said, “I don’t think there is anything wrong with that. After all, they’ve already spoken once, and it does not sound as though Kyungsoo has tried to harm Junmyeon-ssi in any way. Also, it’s highly improbable for them to meet again since there is no guarantee that a portal will connect their spaces…”

The tension in Jongdae’s shoulders melted away.

“Now that we’re back to portals, can I ask one more thing?”

“What is it?” Dr. Zhang prompted.

“What happens if a soul doesn’t return to its designated space before the portal disappears?”

Dr. Zhang made a surprised noise as though he wasn’t expecting Jongdae to ask something like that. “That’s a good question.” Silence reigned over the phone, broken only by the sound of Baekhyun shuffling restlessly on the couch next to Jongdae. When Dr. Zhang finally spoke again, it was to say, “I don’t know.”

“Oh.” It wasn’t crucial for Jongdae to know, but his shoulders still slumped at Dr. Zhang’s lack of knowledge.

The disappointment must have been obvious in his voice because the medium’s words took on an apologetic tone. “I’m sorry. I’ve never had a case where the soul failed to return to their original space, so I cannot say for certain. If I had to make a guess, I would say that the soul would be stuck in a space that isn’t theirs until they manage to find a portal that leads back to their original space.”

Drawing on his experience with traveling between spaces, Jongdae found Dr. Zhang’s theory to be a logical one and nodded in agreement, even though the other could not see through the phone.

Dr. Zhang cleared his throat. “Is there anything else you want to tell me?” he prodded gently, “Anything you want to add?”

“Um.” Jongdae wracked his brains, searching for anything he might have forgotten to mention. “No, not that I can think of.”

They bid each other goodbye, and Dr. Zhang reminded Jongdae to let him know if anything new happened. Jongdae hung up and chanced a look at Baekhyun. As their gazes met, Jongdae could see the unspoken words simmering on his best friend’s tongue as Baekhyun held them back because of the compromise they made. Knowing that Baekhyun was doing his best, Jongdae leaned over and wrapped his arms around Baekhyun’s waist, snuggling against his friend to rest his cheek on Baekhyun’s shoulder.

“Do I look like a body pillow to you?” Baekhyun’s words held no bite as he stretched an arm over Jongdae’s shoulders.

Jongdae snickered and made himself comfortable, listening to Baekhyun mumble about miscellaneous things.

That night, Jongdae found it strange and slightly worrisome when Junmyeon failed to greet him again upon his arrival in Limbo. At first, when he looked around and didn’t see Junmyeon anywhere, Jongdae thought that perhaps the other had gone for a walk and hadn’t returned yet. However, the longer Jongdae sat and waited with no sign of Junmyeon, the more uneasy he got, so he stood up, dusted himself off, and began to walk around, calling out as loud as he could, “Junmyeon-hyung!”

As time passed, Jongdae’s shouts became increasingly desperate as every second he spent searching failed to turn up any sign of Junmyeon. He stumbled his way through the pines until he came across the lake, where he happened to look up and saw something in the distance.

Squinting at the faraway object, Jongdae made out the familiar shapes of tall buildings that he swore weren’t there before. As he stared at the foreign sight a little longer, Jongdae recognized the buildings to be metropolitan buildings, which belonged in cities like Seoul and not out in the middle of a pine forest. Jongdae chewed on the inside of his cheek as he tried to think of why buildings would suddenly appear out of nowhere and whether or not this had to do with Junmyeon’s absence. Had Junmyeon noticed the buildings and gone to investigate?

Jongdae inspected the buildings that poked out over the treetops. He honestly couldn’t think of any other place Junmyeon could be, so he circled around the lake and began heading in the direction of the anomaly.

The strangeness of the situation only grew when Jongdae arrived at the line where the forest ended and the city began. The trees and buildings were half-faded as though an artist had drawn half, left them for later, and forgotten to finish them. The empty strip of space between the two environments resembled a gray abyss with its maw stretched open, demanding to be filled.

Jongdae hesitated before the void, unsure of what would happen if he crossed into the emptiness, but the desire to find Junmyeon and make sure the other was safe triumphed over his apprehension. Jongdae took a deep breath that did little to calm his nerves and prepared to step forward.

His body became weightless, his vision dimmed, and Jongdae wanted to scream at how untimely things had to be that he should be waking up now of all times. “Are you ing kidding me?” he swore, but there was nothing he could do except blink awake to stare blearily at the digital clock on his bedside table.

2:41 am.

It was way too early to wake Baekhyun up or send Dr. Zhang a message, so Jongdae rolled onto his side and shut his eyes, hoping that he could go back to sleep and wake up once again in Limbo. Unfortunately, his own body was against him, leaving him to toss and turn for hours before he finally drifted into a doze until his alarm sounded at nine. Groggy and groaning, Jongdae heaved himself out of bed and into the bathroom, resentful that he failed to go back into Limbo.

Baekhyun eyed him judgingly as Jongdae lumbered into the kitchen. “You look like you had a rough night in Limbo,” he observed with a mischievous smirk, “Or did you and Junmyeon…?”

Jongdae couldn’t muster the energy to fight back. “I have something to tell you and Dr. Zhang.”

Baekhyun’s smirk vanished, and he looked away for a moment before turning back. “You’re not going to give us the details, are you?”

“No!” The whine escaped Jongdae’s mouth before he could stop it, “Why do you have to be such a ert?”

His best friend’s smirk had returned. “So something did happen.”

Jongdae pouted as he took a sip of coffee. “Something did,” he confirmed but glared at Baekhyun when the other’s expression turned smug, “but it’s nothing like what you’re thinking of.”

Baekhyun’s sly demeanor remained, but he didn’t make any more jokes as he rested his elbows on the table and said, “We have thirty minutes before class.”

Jongdae pulled out his phone and tapped on Dr. Zhang’s contact, anxious to speak to the medium, but to his dismay, the phone rang with no answer.

“He’ll probably call you back,” Baekhyun said as Dr. Zhang’s voicemail spoke to them.

There was no time to wait around for the medium to call him back, so Jongdae left a voicemail, telling Dr. Zhang that he would call again later that evening once he and Baekhyun were both done with classes. Dr. Zhang sent a text message in response a couple hours later, saying that he would wait for Jongdae’s call.

After dinner that day, Jongdae and Baekhyun sat on the couch again as Jongdae called Dr. Zhang again. As soon as the medium picked up, Jongdae was rambling about the city that had appeared out of nowhere in the middle of Junmyeon’s forest and about how Junmyeon was missing.

He was halfway through a sentence when Dr. Zhang interrupted him and asked him to slow down. “If I understood you correctly, you said that Junmyeon-ssi’s forest has been transformed into a city and that you haven’t seen Junmyeon-ssi himself since the night before?”

“Yes,” Jongdae confirmed with a yawn. The lack of sleep from last night was beginning to catch up to him.

“Well, this is the first time I’m hearing of an environment being changed into something completely different,” Dr. Zhang mused, “I’m guessing that Junmyeon-ssi noticed and went to investigate this phenomenon himself.”

“That’s what I think, too,” Jongdae said.

“Did you get a chance to go look for him?”

“I tried, but I woke up before I could enter the city,” Jongdae confessed, “I’m going to try again tonight.”

Dr. Zhang hummed. “Okay, but be careful. I’m not sure what’s going on, so take care of yourself. Remember that the soul is a fragile thing. Don’t go looking for danger.”

Baekhyun’s fingers curled into a fist, knuckles turning white.

“I’ll stay alert,” Jongdae promised them both, “Do you have any ideas about what might be happening?”

“I have two theories.” Dr. Zhang paused. “The first one is that Junmyeon-ssi himself is undergoing some sort of change that causes his environment to change with him.”

Jongdae didn’t understand how that would work, but then again, it was just a theory. Nothing is for certain just yet. “What’s the second?” he asked.

“The second,” Dr. Zhang said, “is that there is another soul inhabiting Junmyeon-ssi’s space and that the environment is changing to reflect this new soul’s disposition.”

Somehow, Jongdae liked this theory a lot less than the first one.

That night, Jongdae didn’t want to go back to Limbo, fearing the idea of meeting a new soul without the presence of Junmyeon, but at the same time, he needed to go back to make sure Junmyeon was okay. He laid in bed and closed his eyes, feeling the vigorous thumping of his heart and counting each beat in an effort to keep himself grounded.

Once he knew he had entered Limbo again, Jongdae opened his eyes and blinked. He was certain that he had been standing at the edge of the city when he left Limbo last night, but now the towering apartments surrounded him. At this point, the only bits of forest Jongdae could see were the pointed tips of the pine trees in the distance. Everything else had been completely blocked by the numerous skyscrapers. Had the city landscape expanded in Jongdae’s absence?

As he surveyed the empty city, Jongdae felt his stomach churn slightly at the sight of empty bottles and wayward sheets of paper that littered the street. His gut screamed at him that this place was dangerous, telling him to turn back at once, and Jongdae felt sicker with every second he spent standing in the street. However, he steeled himself and ignored his instincts, turning his back on them and the familiar pine forest as he ventured deeper into the dilapidated city in search of Junmyeon.

Up next: Baekhyun the Body Pillow

I went on a writing spree last night, so this chapter is a week early. Hope you guys enjoy! (๑˃̵ᴗ˂)
Just a little warning: 's going to go down next chapter, so idk, you might want to prepare yourselves a bit (´-﹏-`；)