Limbo

Chapter 3: Land of the Dead

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Limbo, huh.

Jongdae chewed on his bottom lip incessantly as he stood in line at the café, waiting to order his lunch. The mother and child in front of him were taking their time, but Jongdae wasn’t complaining. It gave him time to mull over his latest dream.

Limbo, the Land of the Dead.

Unfortunately, Jongdae had woken up before he could get Junmyeon to elaborate. He wanted to talk to Baekhyun about it, but his best friend had already left for class, leaving Jongdae to stew in the new information alone. It distracted him throughout the entirety of his morning class, but luckily, the professor gave them the class period to prepare their graduation project, which Jongdae was still clueless about.

“May I help you?”

Jongdae jumped slightly when the cashier raised her voice slightly. He looked up to see that the mother and child were gone. The cashier was watching him with an amused look, and Jongdae couldn’t help the sheepish grin that settled on his mouth as he walked up to the counter.

Once he had ordered, he forced himself to pay attention as another worker called out the orders, picking up the kimchi fried rice he had bought after about ten minutes of waiting. He picked out a seat by the window for himself and slid into the booth, opening the box of rice and digging in with fervor. He pulled out his phone as he ate, opened a new tab, and entered ‘Limbo’ into the search box.

Several results popped up. Jongdae clicked on the first link, which took him to a new webpage. He read the first sentence out loud to himself, “’Limbo is a place for people who die in original sin without being assigned to Hell.’ Why does this have to sound so complicated? What’s ‘original sin?’” He took another bite of his lunch and went back to the search results page.

The next result was a video game. Jongdae ignored it, as well as any other result that classified as a game of some kind. Other searches yielded similar definitions to the one he first read, and none of them were able to clear up his confusion over Limbo. Disappointed, Jongdae finished off his kimchi fried rice and checked the time on his phone.

“Oh, !” He grabbed his backpack and slung it over his shoulder, picking up the empty lunch box and pocketing his phone. He tossed the box in the garbage can and dashed out of the café, praying that he would be able to make it to his next class in less than seven minutes.

By the time his last class finished, Jongdae couldn’t wait to dream again. The curiosity of not knowing was eating away at him, and he was no longer afraid to talk to Junmyeon despite the latter’s off-putting attitude.

Baekhyun was waiting for him with dinner again, but the film student also looked exhausted. He greeted Jongdae with a tired smile when the latter walked into the dorm. “There’s ttoekbokki and chicken on the table. The kimchi’s in the fridge,” he finished off with a huge yawn.

“Long day at your internship?” Jongdae called as he kicked off his shoes and dropped his bag in his room. Baekhyun mumbled a response from his place on the sofa.

Jongdae washed his hands, a plate, and a pair of chopsticks for himself. He sat down and was about to eat when he noticed that Baekhyun wasn’t getting up. “Aren’t you going to eat?”

“Tired,” the other mumbled. Jongdae wordlessly scooped a few rice cakes and pieces of chicken onto his plate and made his way over to where Baekhyun sat. He speared a piece of chicken on one chopstick and held it up to Baekhyun.

“Eat something, and then, go to bed,” Jongdae coaxed. He knew just how draining Baekhyun’s internship was, and at times like these, he didn’t mind taking care of his roommate for a little.

Baekhyun obediently opened his mouth and ate the chicken that Jongdae offered. He sat up a little, chewing on the piece of meat, and took the plate from Jongdae, shoveling the rest of the food into his mouth like a starved man.

“Thanks, ‘Dae.” Bits of food flew out of Baekhyun’s mouth, and Jongdae leaned away with a disgusted look. Baekhyun had enough decency to cover his mouth afterward. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay.” Jongdae took the plate and chopsticks back and returned to his seat at the dining table. “Just clean it up tomorrow or something.”

Baekhyun nodded and stood up, stretching his arms above his head. “Did you dream last night?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah, I did.” Jongdae had briefly forgotten about his dream when he saw his best friend nearly passed out on the sofa. “Oh! The stranger who appeared in my dream, he said his name is Junmyeon!”

Baekhyun was wide awake now. “Junmyeon?”

Jongdae nodded. “He also told me that the gray world is apparently called Limbo.”

“Wait, wait, wait.” Baekhyun slid into the chair next to Jongdae and leaned in close, lowering his voice as he did so. “Is he religious?”

“What? I don’t know.” Jongdae pushed Baekhyun away, and the film student plopped back onto his chair. “He also said that I don’t belong in Limbo because I’m not dead.”

Baekhyun leaned in again, this time fixing his gaze intently on Jongdae’s face. “Are you sure about that?”

“Are you being serious right now, Baek?”

The other smirked slyly. “Well, what if you’re a ghost and you just don’t know it?” Judging by the laughter that followed, Jongdae knew that Baekhyun was just playing around. He felt both annoyed and amused, annoyed that Baekhyun wasn’t taking this seriously and amused by the other’s antics.

Several hours later, Jongdae found himself lying on his bed, trying to fall asleep. He closed his eyes and evened his breathing. Inhale. Exhale.

The floorboards creaked as the night settled in. Jongdae ignored the sound as well as he could, focusing on the rise and fall of his chest.

Inhale. Exhale.

A light breeze blew. The oak tree outside Jongdae’s dorm window swayed lightly in the wind, its branches casting shadows across Jongdae’s eyelids.

Inhale. Exhale.

“What are you doing?” A familiar voice suddenly asked, and Jongdae knew that he was dreaming again.

He opened his eyes to see Junmyeon standing over him with his hands in his pockets and a disapproving frown on his face. Jongdae smiled at the sight and pushed himself off the ground, dusting off his clothes as he faced Junmyeon. “Hi.”

Junmyeon eyed him strangely. “You’re still not dead.”

Jongdae laughed awkwardly. He was still uncomfortable with that topic, but he didn’t want to start an argument or anything with Junmyeon. Instead, he decided to play it off as a joke. “Nope, not dead yet.”

Junmyeon didn’t even smile. “Why are you back?”

I don’t know; I’ve been dreaming of this place for a while now. “Uh, I want to know more about this place. About Limbo.” Jongdae stepped forward, closing the distance between them a little. Junmyeon’s response was the step backward, once again putting several feet between himself and Jongdae.

Jongdae noticed and stopped, figuring that Junmyeon was still wary of him. He waited patiently for Junmyeon to respond, hoping that the other wouldn’t turn away.

Luckily for him, Junmyeon shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “If I answer your questions, will you leave?”

Jongdae knew he couldn’t promise that he would stop coming, but he really needed answers to his questions. “I’ll leave.”

His response seemed to satisfy Junmyeon, who leaned against a nearby tree. “What do you want to know?”

Jongdae thought it over for a moment, trying to rally all of his questions. “What exactly is Limbo? I know you said it’s the Land of the Dead, but…” He floundered for a moment, struggling to find the right words. “Where is it in relation to South Korea? Where did Limbo come from? What is it like to be here?”

Junmyeon nodded slowly, processing all of Jongdae’s questions. “I can’t say where Limbo came from; I don’t know, either. As far as I know, this place exists in a separate space from South Korea. It’s a world where everything’s gray, and there is no end. I’m guessing this world is spherical like the land of the living.”

“So, if I walked continuously in a straight line, I would eventually end up back here?”

Junmyeon shrugged. “Probably. I never tested it though. I just walk around aimlessly.”

“Do you see other people here?” Jongdae glanced around as though expecting to see people approaching them.

“No, each soul in Limbo has their own space.” Junmyeon interlaced his fingers together. “It’s like there are several smaller spaces inside one big space. The big space is Limbo, and the smaller spaces are dimensions that each belong to one soul. The smaller spaces never cross into each other. Most souls never see another person.”

“How did you figure all of this stuff out?”

“It’s normally not possible to cross into someone else’s dimension, but there is one way,” Junmyeon said slowly, “When another soul enters Limbo from the world of the living, it causes a disruption of some sort. Portals open and lead to random dimensions, and I was curious, so I went through one and found myself in a desert. The person in that dimension had apparently figured lots of things out, and he was happy to share them with me.”

“Did he figure it out by himself?”

“I didn’t ask, but I assume he did,” Junmyeon admitted, “Kyungsoo is a very smart person. It’s a shame that he’s here and not in the world of the living.”

Kyungsoo. Jongdae noted down the name in the back of his head before refocusing on the conversation. “Is it okay if I ask…how did you die?”

There was a long pause, and Jongdae saw Junmyeon squeeze his hands together so hard that the knuckles and tips of his fingers turned white. Feeling that he had gone too far, Jongdae opened his mouth to retract his question.

“I was murdered.”

Jongdae snapped his mouth shut so fast that he heard his teeth clacking together. He was not sure what he had expected, but Junmyeon’s answer still shocked him. He wasn’t sure what to say in response to that, and Junmyeon wasn’t looking at him.

“I-I’m sorry…”

“Don’t.” Junmyeon’s response was sharp. “Don’t try to apologize when you aren’t the one who killed me.”

A tense silence settled between them. Junmyeon still hadn’t looked up, and Jongdae dropped his gaze to the forest floor, not knowing how he should respond. The art student wracked his brain for anything, anything that would be even remotely appropriate to say, but in the end, he came up with nothing and instead, plucked a twig off the ground and began scratching at the ground with it, absentmindedly drawing in the dirt.

He almost jumped when Junmyeon spoke a few moments later. “You’re an art student?”

Jongdae looked up from his sketch of a flying swan to see that Junmyeon had started watching him at some point. “Yeah, I go to K Arts.”

Junmyeon nodded gently at Jongdae’s answer, and the art student took the opportunity to ask Junmyeon about his life. “What did you study in school?”

“Music.” Junmyeon lowered himself to the ground, having grown tired of his standing position and deciding to sit on a tree root that protruded from the ground. Jongdae copied the motion, being careful to maintain his distance from the other. “I wanted to write songs.”

“One of my friends is a music major. His name is Chanyeol, and he wants to perform for people.” Jongdae smiled at the thought of the clumsy, red-haired man who always seemed to have a guitar strapped to his back.

“What instruments does he play?”

“Guitar, mostly, but he can also play the drums and keyboard. He does a bit of songwriting, too, and he plays them for his boyfriend.”

There was an unreadable look on Junmyeon’s face. “I see.”

In an effort to keep the conversation going, Jongdae asked, “Did you play any instruments?”

“No. I only sang.”

“Well…” The corners of Jongdae’s mouth curled up slightly. “The voice is technically an instrument, so you can say you play an instrument.”

Junmyeon’s response to that was a raised eyebrow. However, Jongdae would not let it deter him and continued talking.

“What did your parents think of you becoming a songwriter? Did they support you?”

“Yes, they were my strongest supporters. It was actually my mom who told me I should write songs when she saw how much I loved music,” Junmyeon explained.

“Which school did you go to?”

“Seoul National University.”

Jongdae had applied to that school alongside K Arts and had gotten accepted, but he chose not to attend. “I heard that that school has a really rigorous curriculum. Is it true?”

“It was only rigorous if you procrastinated. As long as you kept up well, the assignments weren’t so bad.”

Their conversation stuck to school for the rest of the night with occasional deviations to family and friends. Jongdae did most of the asking, while Junmyeon replied in accord. There were some questions that Junmyeon offered rather vague answers to, but Jongdae didn’t press it since the two of them were still practically strangers.

There was a lull in their talk when Jongdae began to feel light. He realized he was waking up and quickly turned to tell Junmyeon, but the latter was already looking at him with a surprised expression.

“I’m waking up,” Jongdae said.

“What?” Junmyeon could only say that much before Jongdae’s vision turned black and the art student found himself blinking at the ceiling of his dorm room.

A/N: Yay, update! Junmyeon and Jongdae have their first proper conversation :D

^Moodboard for this story made by me