Where is everyone?

Soohyun had to take a deep breath as she stepped forward, trying to process what just happened. She was just in the midst of fighting her self thoughts and she was apologizing and then all of a sudden, everyone was gone. No one, not even Baekhyun was on sight. It’s as if she came alone to Xynnar.

“Baekhyun?” Soohyun tried calling out though her voice cracked slightly as she tried to mask the fear that was slowly crawling to her.

She took another careful step, bringing out the sheathed dagger Jongin has given to her before they left the ship. She held tightly onto it as she walked a little bit further. Soohyun called out a few more times but still there was no answer. Is this Hann’s doing? Is he starting to play with them? What is she going to do if he ever showed up in front of her?

“Baekhyun? Jongin?” Soohyun called out once more. “Chanyeol? Anyone?”

Soohyun had to stop on her tracks when she saw that frightfully familiar face standing in front of her. She closed her eyes immediately and had to continuously chant on her head that everything’s just an illusion. None of it can be true. None.

“Soohyun,” the King called. “Why won’t you look at me?” he continued, his voice dangerously sounding a lot closer than he was before Soohyun closed her eyes.

“Let’s go home. Everyone’s waiting for your retur—“

“Stop!” Soohyun yelled, opening her eyes. Why is this happening again? Hann? Could it be Hann’s doing?

Soohyun took a cautious step back as she looked at the King’s face. How come this feels all real? The uneasy feeling, the fear, the look on his eyes—even his words and the magnitude of unnerving emotions it can make her feel—it all feels real. The King lifted his lips into a devious smirk as he inched forward, closing the distance.

“I will take you back where you belong, whether you like it or not,” he said, with his voice low and his eyes unwavering. Before Soohyun could even run from the evil in front of her eyes, the King was fast enough to grab her by her wrists. She struggled and tried to free herself as much as she could. His grasp was starting to hurt even more as she tried to get out of it.

“No, I’m not coming with you!” Soohyun yelled, pulling back with all her might. The King wasn’t backing down as he dragged her down the road. Soohyun kept struggling, forcefully pulling her hand out of his grip. And when it finally seemed like she broke free from the King, she quickly opened her eyes and saw familiar faces standing right in front of her.

“She never really was any of help to us. She was just another burden.”

Those words rang continuously on Soohyun’s ears as she watched it come out of Jongdae’s very own lips. It pierced straight onto her heart. She didn’t even noticed how her hands started to shake at the dreadful words she just heard. He was talking to Baekhyun, who seemed like he was in a very deep thought, trying to make him understand his point.

“But—“

“Has she ever done anything valuable to us besides reading a book in which any of us can actually do? What was she doing when we were all fighting those pirates? Hiding? Being a coward? Probably crying behind her cabin doors? Who knows? But I know one thing for sure, she didn’t do anything at all,” Jongdae continued. “Tell me Baekhyun, what really was your purpose of bringing her with us?”

“No...” Soohyun unconsciously muttered, breathing unevenly, as she looked back at Jongdae. She tried to reach out for him but he was too far from her. It’s not because I don’t want to help. I-I just... I can’t. “That’s not true.”

Jongdae looked at her with his eyebrows arching in a very sarcastic way. “Oh you’re here. I didn’t notice you at all,” he started. “Maybe because you weren’t important, that’s why.”

Stop. Stop. Stop talking. Soohyun chanted on her mind. Is this also an illusion? Or are they real? She couldn’t tell at all because they seemed real enough to just be hallucinations. Her breathing was hard and it was getting harder to make sense of what’s happening around her. It was as if someone was strangling her to her death. She couldn’t breathe.

“Stop...” Soohyun muttered, in a broken voice, as she opened her eyes and looked at everyone. They all look real. Are they real? Whatever Jongdae was saying, was it also real? Her heart clenched tightly at the thought of everything being real and not being an illusion at all.

“Look at you,” Jongdae started once again. Soohyun could feel him getting closer to her, inching and closing their distance in no time. “You poor little thing. You can’t even handle the truth. Stop acting as if you can actually do something when in reality you mean nothing. You act as if you’re important. Let me tell you something—you’re not.”

“Stop clinging onto Baekhyun and everyone else. It’s annoying. We’re not helping you. Remember that,” Jongdae’s voice echoed throughout the whole place. Soohyun’s breath hitched as she tried to say something—to even protest—but nothing came out. She looked around and everything was slowly starting to fade. Her breathing was still unstable and she could feel her legs failing on her any moment from now. Tears started to roll down her cheeks. This is too much. The impact of Jongdae’s words were more than anything the King has said to her, may it be an illusion or the real one. Hearing it from Jong