Jinyoung walked along the shore of the beach, looking out to the sun that was beginning to rise. He breathed in the salty sea air as he looked to the sky, taking in the multitudes of colors that painted it.  The usually white clouds glowed with a fiery red tint, and the sky was splashed with different hues of orange, red, and pink. He looked to the ground, and watched the icy cold water lap at his bare feet. He took another deep breath as he felt the sea breeze whip past his ears. He heard the echoes of the seagulls that were cawing far away from where he stood. He smiled at how calm everything was. But he knew that it could only stay calm for so long. “Jinyoung!” He heard from the distance. His eyes opened, he didn’t know when he closed them, and he looked back to the source of the voice. But no one was there. His eyebrows furrowed, but before he could turn back to the sea he felt something hit the back of his head. He turned quickly and saw that a beach ball had been thrown at him. Looking up he saw who threw it. A few feet away from where he was standing was Yugyeom, laughing into his hands at the confused face Jinyoung was sure he was making. “You’re gonna regret that!” Jinyoung said as he picked up the ball, sprinting as fast as the sand would allow him to go towards Yugyeom. The younger boy had enough sense to begin running away, but he didn’t stop laughing.

After what felt like hours of chasing Yugyeom around the shore Jinyoung had finally caught up to him and tackled him to the ground. Yugyeom tried to wiggle out from under Jinyoung, but the older boy put all his weight onto Yugyeom's thighs. Jinyoung threw soft punches and pinches at Yugyeom’s sides, since he was not really aiming to hurt the other boy. “Mercy! Mercy!” He heard Yugyeom call out through his giggles and gasps for air. To finish off the attack Jinyoung spiked the beach ball off of the taller boy’s chest. Jinyoung looked down and took in the sight below him. Yugyeom was taking deep breaths in an attempt to catch his breath from the attack earlier, his hair was covered in sand from how much he had thrashed his head around. From his hairline all the way down to his neck he was pink. The calm from before washed over Jinyoung as he scooched down so he could rest his head on Yugyeom’s chest, who in return wrapped his long arms around him. Jinyoung closed his eyes and listened to the younger’s heartbeat, and he felt Yugyeom begin to run his hand up and down his spine. “Jinyoung?” Yugyeom said after a few moments of silence. “Yeah?” “Could you do me a big favor?” Jinyoung decided to nod instead of verbally answer. “Could you leave?” It was said in a breathy whisper, but Jinyoung didn’t struggle to hear the words that left Yugyeom’s lips.  “Leave?” Yugyeom’s body became tense. “You need to leave. You can’t stay here, we both know that.” Jinyoung sat up quickly and looked down at Yugyeom, but the sight that greeted him wasn’t the one he was expecting.  Instead of the Yugyeom he saw before he closed his eyes he saw one that was bloodied and injured. There was a cut along his hairline and his stomach had a large splotch of blood on it. “Leave.” Was all Yugyeom said before Jinyoung felt something on the back of his head. It felt like he was being pulled away from Yugyeom by his hair. Jinyoung screamed and tried to pull against the sensation when he felt a hand on his cheek. “This isn’t real. Go back home.” After Yugyeom said those words Jinyoung lost the fight against the feeling, and was yanked into darkness.

When Jinyoung opened his eyes once more he was in a lab, laying down on a large cot. Just as he was gathering his bearings a face popped into his vision. It was the face of his lab partner, Jaebum. Jinyoung moved to sit up but got dizzy after trying too quickly, Jaebum caught him. “Easy there. You’re still plugged into the Mainframe.” Jaebum said as he eased Jinyoung back down. He gently flipped Jinyoung onto his side and unplugged the wire that was in the middle of the back of Jinyoung’s neck. Once he was unplugged Jinyoung felt his strength return to him, but he let Jaebum help him into a sitting position. Once Jinyoung was settled Jaebum leaned back and crossed his arms. “You were seeing Yugyeom again. Weren’t you?” Jinyoung looked at his lap, his silence answering the question as he fiddled with his fingers. Jaebum  uncrossed his arms. “Damn it Jinyoung! How many times have we told you that you can’t just use the Mainframe like that? It’s supposed to be used to train the military, not to live out our fantasies.” Jaebum said angrily as he walked over to the machine, making sure that it wasn’t overheating. Jinyoung remained silent, not looking up from his lap. After making sure that the Mainframe was fine Jaebum turned back to the other man in the room. The sight before him led him to let out a deep sigh before he walked over to his friend. Jaebum rested his hands on Jinyoung’s shoulders. “Look, we all miss Yugyeom. He was like a little brother to us. I know he was more than that to you, but you can’t keep doing this to yourself. Every time you go in there it takes us longer to get you out. I’m afraid of losing you.” Jaebum moved one of his hands to gently grab Jinyoung by the chin so he could have Jinyoung look him in the eyes. “I don’t want to lose another brother. Please, talk to me.” Jinyoung remained silent, but he took in a few watery breaths. “It’s-” He was interrupted by a few coughs that escaped his throat. “It's all my fault.” He said as he looked once more to the ground.

Jaebum rubbed at Jinyoung’s arm as he squatted so he was in Jinyoung’s line of vision. “No. None of this is your fault Jinyoung. You weren’t behind the wheel of the car that pinned him to the tree. You didn’t cause the rain that made the driver lose control. And you certainly didn’t give that driver any drinks that night. How is it your fault?” Jinyoung let out a few sobs before he answered. “I was the reason he was out there! If I hadn’t of gotten in that stupid argument with him he wouldn’t have been outside. He would have been safe in bed with me!” Jinyoung’s sobs got louder. “That’s his last memory of me! The last thing he remembered about me when he was dying in the rain was me saying all of those nasty words to him!” He was in hysterics now, his breaths were coming in short bursts of air. “I didn’t get a chance to make sure he knew he was loved. He died alone and scared. I just want to tell him I love him one last time. Just one.” Jaebum pulled his friend into a tight hug at that point, letting Jinyoung release all of the emotions he was feeling. When Jinyoung’s sobs turned into quiet hiccups and sniffles Jaebum pulled back. “He knows. He knows you love him. How could he ever doubt how much he was loved? Yeah, you got angry at each other, but fights happen. He knew you would never hate him, because he loved you just as much as you loved him. Do you really think that he would want you to keep doing this to yourself? Do you think he would want you to torture yourself like this?” Jinyoung was silent once more. “If you had died instead of him. Would you want him to do this? To keep sending himself into a fake world just to get ripped out of it later?” Jinyoung shook his head. “Then why would he want that for you?” Jinyoung remained silent.

Jaebum let out another sigh and grabbed Jinyoung by the wrist. “Come on. Let’s get you home.” Jinyoung got out of Jaebum’s grasp. “You go ahead. I left a few things in the closet, I’ll catch up to you.” Jaebum looked skeptical. “I won’t plug myself back in. You can even lock up the Mainframe to make sure of it.” Jinyoung turned away from the Mainframe to prove his point. Jaebum locked the Mainframe down, using several encrypted passwords to make sure no one would be able to get in. “I’ll see you at home.” He said as he left the room. Jinyoung gave him a tense smile. “See you then.” He said with a small wave. Once Jaebum left the room Jinyoung waited until he couldn’t hear his footsteps anymore. He quickly ran to the door and locked it, making sure no one would be able to get in. He then walked over to the Mainframe. He took a small disk out of his pocket and put it in the Mainframe. It unlocked within a few seconds. “Gotta love computers hacking themselves.” He said as he put the disk back in his pocket. After starting up the Mainframe he took the wire and laid back down on the cot and plugged himself back in. After a few seconds of darkness he opened his eyes, the ocean once again greeting him. Yugyeom stood in front of him, smiling widely. Jinyoung gently held Yugyeom’s hand in his.

“Let’s go home.”