When Minseok wakes up on the 3^rd morning of living inside Lu Han’s apartment, he’s greeted by 4 additional people inside the living room as he steps out of the bedroom.

‘This is against Covid-19 safety guidelines,’ is the first thing he says.

‘Kim Minseok I will disown you!’ his aunt cries out. She looks like she’s been crying, eyes puffy and red. Beside her is Sunmi, someone Minseok only vaguely recognizes as his aunts close friend and powerful psychic. Well, psychic was a vague description of Sunmi’s abilities.

‘We’re wearing masks!’ Kim Taehyung emphasizes where he stands by the kitchen, near the sink, ‘And gloves!’

‘I got tested last week,’ Kyungsoo chimes in from the doorway, where he’s honest to god, wearing a full PPT suit.

Minseok is quite disoriented in all honesty. He wonders if he’s dreaming.

‘Well, the important thing here is that we’re taking precautions and I think your issue is important enough to gather inside my apartment,’ Lu Han exclaims as he pushes his couch to the far end of the room. Minseok notes how all of his furniture have been pushed to the sides, leaving a wide space in the center.

‘Hi hyung!’ Taehyung beams from the sink, ‘It’s so good to see you again! Though this could have been for a merrier occasion.’

Minseok blinks at the young man, somehow he’s grown taller and his shoulders are broader. He’s not wearing worn out gardening clothes but rather a nice sweater tucked into some pajama like pants that don’t look like pajamas on him.

‘Ah yes-,’ Minseok starts belatedly before Sunmi exclaims, ‘Oh, Taehyung, I remember watching the episode on your greenhouse, the eggs were a very good idea!’

‘Thank you so much!’ Taehyung bows deeply.

‘So, this is reinforcement?’ Minseok demands, turning around to gawk at Lu Han who was now busy filling up Ku, Ma, and Mon’s water bowls.

‘Yeap!’ he exclaims, ‘Of course Sohee must be here, Sunmi of course. I don’t know any shamans here and honestly finding one would take too long but from what I watched from your boyfriend’s vlogs, I remember that Taehyung here is as good as we can get with shamans!’

‘Thanks!’ Taehyung beams before turning to Minseok, ‘So Jongdae and Baekhyun hyungs are your boyfriends! I knew it!’

‘What- no it’s not like that-‘ Minseok tries but he figures he’s not going to get anywhere so he sighs and instead says, ‘You came alone? Isn’t it-‘

‘Oh no Jiminie is waiting for me!’ Taehyung’s grin is obvious under his mask, ‘I’ll be fine.’

‘And where’s Jimin?’ Minseok looks around for the bright young man as though expecting him to pop out of somewhere inside Lu Han’s apartment.

‘In your apartment,’ Lu Han gives him a thumb’s up.

‘My apartment-?!’

‘It’s safe for people who aren’t you,’ Lu Han gestures for him to sit down, ‘Come on buns, let’s start.’

‘Can I at least brush.’ Minseok needs to sort his brain out a little. He excuses himself to the bathroom and sits on the toilet for a moment, head in his hands. The past few days were weirdly strained and weirdly uneventful. He slept fitfully, fearful of what he might see despite Lu Han’s continued reassurances that he’s set up powerful security around the place and over both of them.

His phone dings quietly and it’s a photo message from Jongdae of Baekhyun, clearly attempting some ridiculous work out. He’s managed to avoid raising any suspicion with his two friends as both of them were swamped with online classes and managing assignments and a massive change in literally everything. Minseok wishes he could be more actively involved in what they were going through- he’s not sure how to help, they were all thrown up into the air, free falling in directions they couldn’t predict, but at least he’d be falling with them.

Right now he’s away, apart, and he’s- Minseok is just tired.

There’s a quiet knock on the door and before Minseok can answer, Kyungsoo pokes his head around the door.

‘Hyung, can I come in?’

‘Yeah,’ Minseok waves him in.

Kyungsoo comes in, closing the door and leaning against it.

‘How’re you doing?’

‘Tired,’ Minseok replies honestly. ‘I want this to just finish, you know?’

Kyungsoo nods, his PPT suit making crinkling sounds.

‘Why are you here? How did Lu Han even contact you?’

‘I contacted you,’ Kyungsoo explains, ‘Lu Han-shii answered your phone.’

Minseok’s not surprised Lu Han would do that.

‘I’m sorry for being kinda distant-‘

‘That’s not why I called,’ Kyungsoo slides down the door to squat against the door. ‘I called because I saw you in my dream.’

Minseok look around at the younger man in surprise.

‘What?’

Kyungsoo nods. ‘Lu Han-shii tells me that I probably have some form of precognition, at least that’s what he called it. He recognized me from Baekhyun and Jongdae’s videos. He asked me if I wanted to help, and so I’m here.’

Minseok could cry.

‘Thanks Soo.’

Kyungsoo’s smile is obvious under his mask and face-shield.

‘What did you see in your dream?’

‘I saw you here,’ Kyungsoo thumbs out of the door behind him, ‘I saw you, and a bright figure- who now I know is Lu Han-shii. But it was like I couldn’t see your face.’

‘Sohee had a dream too,’ Minseok sighs out. ‘I guess that’s why she’s worried.’

Kyungsoo nods.

‘It’s also not just that,’ Kyungsoo adds, ‘I thought, well, you’d like the support.’

Minseok is alarmed to find his eyes watering.

‘You haven’t told Jongdae or Baekhyun right?’

Minseok nods, tears dropping down to his arms, looking down because he doesn’t want to lift his head. Kyungsoo doesn’t try to approach- instead he maintains a respectful distance, not just because of Covid guidelines about safety.

‘I know how much they support you, how you support them too, how you adore them.’ Kyungsoo says softly, ‘I hope one day, you can tell them.’

‘I think I’ll break them,’ Minseok laughs wetly, ‘For two entirely different reasons.’

Kyungsoo laughs.

‘They’ll take a minute to recover, but I think they’ll do everything in their abilities to be there for you,’ Kyungsoo smiles.

‘Something to think about after all of this is over I guess,’ Minseok sniffs, reaching for the toilet paper and blowing his nose.

‘In the meanwhile, I’ll be here hyung,’ Kyungsoo stands up, offering a gloved hand. ‘You helped me out before, I think it’s only fair I do the same.’

Minseok takes his hand, feeling a little better as he stands up.

Kyungsoo tells him about his time spent during lockdown as Minseok washes up. He definitely feels better as he reenters the living room. Sunmi and Lu Han were now at the kitchen, preparing something to eat. Taehyung was in the cleared out living room space, carefully dabbing what looked like clay, chalk, and what Minseok prays isn’t blood on the shiny tile floors in a wide circle. There’s a bronze bowl to one side, filled with a random assortment of bits of wood, stone, and bone.

Sohee is waiting for him and Kyungsoo excuses himself to go watch Taehyung.

‘You look like ,’ Sohee tells him.

‘It must run in the family,’ Minseok deadpans.

Sohee laughs before turning completely sober.

‘Your mum is suspicious,’ she tells him.

‘I know,’ Minseok replies, ‘She called yesterday.’

‘I told her, as lightly as possible,’ Sohee explains, ‘I had to, so I could get your dad’s family address.’

‘I’ll tell her when this is all over.’

Sohee nods, ‘I’ll be with you the whole time.’

‘I know.’

‘Okay, let’s eat and plan this !’ Lu Han calls over.

They all awkwardly hover. The pandemic was really altering inter-social behavior in ways Minseok never thought would be possible at such a large and universal scale.

‘I don’t know how keeping 6 feet inside my apartment during an exorcism is going to actually work out, just saying,’ Lu Han deadpans, ‘Just keep the ing masks on and lets get closer.’

They all approach the table, politely keeping distance and Taehyung graciously hands them all his hand sanitizer. There’s a moment where Kyungsoo struggles, not used to so much protective gear, as he uses the hand sanitizer on his gloved hands.

‘Right, we’re all sanitized,’ Lu Han smiles brightly, ‘Let’s begin.’

‘I’ve finished setting up the containment circle,’ Taehyung beams, gesturing to the floor. ‘I’ve also finished the outer ring for our protection when the apartment is released.’

‘Woah, wait,’ Minseok holds a hand up, ‘What’s this about?’

‘Buns this is going to have to get messy I’m afraid,’ Lu Han tells him, ‘Right now I’m placing a barrier between you and this thing, however, in order for us to find out more and to understand what it wants and how to destroy it, it’s going to have to come back to you.’

‘You’re- why do you sound like you’re allowing Minseok to be possessed?’ Kyungsoo demands.

‘Because that’s exactly what we need to do,’ Sohee sighs heavily. ‘This isn’t just Minseok’s memory and finding out what happened. We will need to allow It to come back so we can banish it, or destroy it, or something.’

‘But before that, we still need to find out some more things,’ Lu Han says quickly. ‘We need to understand more of what happened to Minseok’s granddad. I think there’s a lot that’s happened to him, leading up to his death, that we could use to understand what was happening, and how whatever it was, ended up latching itself onto Minseok.’

‘For that, we brought this,’ Sohee gestures to Sunmi.

‘It was difficult and very weird to explain but I got it,’ Sunmi laughs, picking up her very expensive looking hand bag from the ground and producing a worn but obviously taken care of cigarette case made of metal.

‘This feels slightly illegal,’ Kyungsoo frowns as Lu Han hands them all bowls of steaming rice.

‘How did you get this?’ Minseok asks, somehow in awe and also suspicious.

Sunmi flips her hair behind her shoulder, about to clearly say something elaborate when Sohee interrupts saying, ‘I snuck in while she distracted and I stole it.’

‘The -?’

‘Woah!’ Taehyung exclaims, clapping in tiny.

‘So, this is illegal,’ Kyungsoo frowns, lifting his bowl up to accept the fried sausages Lu Han was distributing onto everyone’s bowls.

‘What did you even say?!’ Minseok demands.

‘Everyone was home when we drove there,’ Sohee sighs, ‘God this pandemic is just ruining everything.’

Every stares at her, slightly stunned.

‘So we caused a scene,’ Sohee explains, ‘Everyone came running out-‘

‘-what she means is I crashed my car into one of their parked cars,’ Sunmi smiles.

‘Well-…’ Taehyung trails off. ‘That would get everyone out and about.’

‘How did you even know what to find?’ Kyungsoo inquires.

Sohee grins, ‘I guess you could say I have a knack for finding things.’

‘Guys, you want cubed or sliced radishes in your kimchi I have two kinds.’

‘Sliced,’ everyone replies unanimously.

Lu Han brings over a large bowl of kimchi and another bowl of boiled eggs.

‘Well, let’s dig in.’

‘None of this even mattered in the end,’ Kyungsoo grumbles, taking off his PPT.

‘So we’re first gonna start with that,’ Lu Han continues as they dig into the breakfast. ‘I’ll use the case as a conduit to access the memories linked to it. However, this time, I won’t be controlling the memory. You need to do what I did basically, but I can’t hold that memory for you,’ Lu Han explains to him. ‘You need to do it yourself, but you don’t have the strength or any experience, which is why we’re reinforcing this whole step forward.’

‘I’ll help you hold the memory up,’ Sohee tells him, ‘Family link is important in things like this.’

‘When you’re in the memory, expanding it, you can only lead it forward to where you want to see how things go,’ Lu Han explains, ‘Be focused on what is important, the memory will lead you forward after that. But you can’t allow yourself to be seen, not when so many things- so many forces are tied to this. We can’t be sure about any of them, but it’s best you make yourself completely unseen and unheard by anything that might want to focus on you in there.’

‘If it’s a memory, it’s in the past, how can it affect me,’ Minseok asks.

‘Because we are alive as long as we remember,’ Taehyung supplies unexpectedly.

‘Taehyung will ensure our safety, so that leaves me with less to worry about,’ Lu Han cuts in.

‘Gonna increase your buffs and really channel those shields,’ Taehyung gives them both a thumb’s up. Lu Han stares blankly at him.

‘I don’t know what that meant but thank you.’

Taehyung smiles his best despite a mouth full of rice, kimchi, and sausage.

‘Once we have the sufficient information, Sunmi will break the barriers around the apartment, and we’ll draw it within the containment ring. By this point, hopefully, we can face it and understand how and why it’s attached to you, and destroy it all together,’ Lu Han explains simply. ‘We’re all going to have to be on high alert. Especially you Taehyung, you’ll need to make sure that the containment ring is opened and sealed at the right time.’

Taehyung nods vigorously. Minseok feels guilty.

He feels a hand on his knee, squeezing gently. Kyungsoo gives him a supportive nod, as though sensing what he was feeling.

‘Sunmi won’t be involved until the end, but she’s going to make sure everything goes according to plan, or change things according to how they might need to be changed,’ Lu Han nods at Sunmi.

‘You might get lost in there,’ Sohee sounds strained as she speaks, ‘So-‘

‘-so I’ll pull you out,’ Kyungsoo tells him quietly, ‘We all will.’

‘For luck!’ Taehyung cries out, reaching into his pocket and pulling out what looked like a bunch of feathers, ‘Just small luck amulets! For everyone.’

They all take a feather each mostly out of politeness. Minseok pockets, finding that it had an odd weight in his pocket just as Taehyung throws him the slightest and fastest wink. He glances around at everyone else but they don’t seem to notice anything amiss with the feather.

Lu Han insists on washing up the dishes while Kyungsoo meticulously sprays the whole living room down with some anti-bacterial spray can.

Snapping on some fresh masks, they head to the living room. Minseok is starting to feel nervous as he enters the simple and slightly crude dual circle ring, outlined by Taehyung. Only Sohee, Lu Han, and Minseok enter the central ring while Sunmi, Kyungsoo, and Taehyung stay outside in the outer ring.

Minseok sits down, rubbing his hands together nervously as Sohee hands him the cigarette case. Sohee sits before him, and between them on Minseok’s other side, Lu Han takes a seat. He starts up the metronome app and someone, probably Kyungsoo, closes the curtains.

There’s a low humming chant, and this was probably Taehyung because the crude circle around them starts to glow a little, the edges smoothing out strangely just a little out of sight. He hears something clattering on the floor, as though someone threw a bunch of small rocks.

Minseok takes the case in his hand, breathing in and out slowly. Sohee nods at him, the oddest light glinting in her eye as Lu Han reaches out to both of them and sounds slows down. The floor below him breaks and reforms to something else entirely.

‘Remember,’ Sohee is not there but her voice lingers somewhere in his mind. ‘There’s nothing you can do here.’

‘You can only watch.’ Lu Han’s voice is further away but still a little audible. ‘Do not interfere. Do not show yourself in any way.’

Minseok finds himself in an unfamiliar house. The hallways are dully lit by the distant reflection of the setting sun. At the end of the hallway, looking out of the dusty window is an old man.

‘We will come and get you.’ Sunmi’s voice is fainter than a whisper.

The old man slowly takes clearer form. His outline sharpening against the light of the window with each step Minseok takes. He holds the cigarette case closer to himself, clenching the metallic case tighter in his hands.

‘Don’t be afraid,’ Kyungsoo’s voice is soft, humming just under his skin and Minseok takes a deep breath, stepping forward with surety.

The old man turns around, eyes a little dazed but focusing straight on Minseok, looking him straight in the eye.

‘Oh,’ he smiles, ‘Minseok-ah, you’ve grown so much!’

*

‘Welcome back everyone to a new chapter of Once Upon an Unsolved Vlog!’

‘So good to see all of you again, we are back with an exhilarating story, or so we’re told by Minseok hyung and Lu hyung!’

‘It’s an extremely intriguing story! I think you’ll enjoy it.’

‘You said there’s photographic evidence?’

‘To an extent, yes.’

‘I don’t know why that made me more nervous.’

‘You always are.’

‘And what of it?

But honestly the way Lu hyung was giddy when he pushed for this story, I don’t trust it!’

‘I think he’s slightly offended by that.’

‘Lu hyung I love you but honestly-‘

‘-the stories you like.’

‘-a bit creepy.’

‘Moving on, let’s bring in our special guest!’

‘Guests, you mean.’

‘Yes you’re right!

Our dear viewers, we have been blessed by true living angels-‘

‘Baby you’re my-!’

‘ANGEL!!!’

(wheezing from everywhere)

‘Welcome to our show Sowon, Yuju, and Eun Bi!’

‘Hi! I’m Sowon!’

‘Hello everyone, I’m Eun Bi.’

‘Hi, we’re so happy to be here, I’m Yuju.’

‘Please introduce yourselves to our audience who might not know who you are!’

‘Which would be a massive fault on their parts!’

‘All right! Well, us three and actually, three others are co-creators and founders of MAGO Academy!’

‘That’s right! We cover 6 different topics that combine cultural methods with modern practicality that can be practiced in your daily life!’

‘We cover self-care, cooking, organization and design, health and meditation, painting and crafts, and literature.’

‘I really enjoy Yuju-shii’s videos on health and meditation, it’s really helped me a lot!’

‘Oh that makes me very happy to hear you say so! Thank you so much!’

‘Ah, no I should be thanking you, we were genuinely worried that MAGO Academy might not want to collaborate for an episode here seeing as we cover vastly, well, contrasting content.’

‘Absolutely not, we love Unsolved!’

‘I love it but I can’t watch a lot!’

‘We’ve heard a lot of people say this!’

‘Which is why guys, if todays story stresses you out, why not head over to MAGO Academy and watch a video on meditation or watch a really cool video on how to make start ink-painting?’

‘That was really smooth.’

‘It really was.’

‘Nice!’

‘Hehehehe.’

‘So where can we find you?’

‘Oh yes! You can find us on our YouTube channel MAGO Academy! We’re also on Twitter and Instagram under the same name!’

‘We will provide all the links to their channels and social media accounts please do give a follow!’

‘And to patrons and subscribers of MAGO Academy! Hi! We hope you enjoy terrifying stories!’

‘Please subscribe to us! We try our best to provide uh, education?’

(wheezing from everywhere once more)

‘Before we start, we always ask this, but assuming you’ve watched some of the episodes, which ones have been your favourites?’

‘Or you know, which one did you hate and wish you could take back your life before watch that episode.’

‘Okay but I scare really easy, so I normally watch your episodes out in broad daylight, literally I will go out to the balcony in the sunlight and watch it with subs, no sound.’

‘…’

‘…’

‘…’

‘-uh, Sowon-shii, it’s okay if you don’t watch it to be honest-‘

‘But I’m so invested in the stories!’

‘We really are! My favourite episode was The Greenhouse!’

‘Oh that was really good but my favourite is the most recent one actually! Well, I don’t know when this will air, but most recent for me! The Nanny with SoLaSiDo!’

‘I had goosebumps the entire episode, I think Umji might have cried but I was too busy trying not to cry while watching it.’

‘-again, please don’t watch this if you’re gonna cry-‘

‘-but wow it was really good, I had cooked myself a whole meal but I forgot about it because I was so invested and when that voice came out?’

‘That voice!’

‘I can’t believe you recorded that specific part and thought it would be funny to wake me up with it-‘

‘-your screaming was very funny unnie let’s be honest.’

‘Well my favourite episode was The Asylum! With Minseok-oppa!’

‘Ah my first episode, you’ve been watching it for quite a while!’

‘I am the original fan yes!’

‘She’s not.’

‘I am!’

(short break where no one can figure out who is the original fan, but honestly we’re just grateful)

‘So let’s start on this new chapter!’

‘Oh I’m not ready-‘

‘-I’m actually really not ready can you give me a moment so I can go sit outside in the sun-?!’

‘UNNIE HAHAHAHA!’

‘SOWON-SHII PLEASE IT’S OKAY IF YOU DON’T WANT TO LISTEN-‘

‘Okay I’m out in the sun! I’m ready!’

‘If you’re sure I guess we can start?’

‘Let’s go!’

‘Woo!’

‘I love this energy so much.’

Well, I was in a bus accident.

‘Now THAT’S a start to a story.’

And that’s kinda how the story really starts but I think it’s important to set the scene because a lot happened before my bus accident and I still don’t understand if what I remembered from before my accident was actually real or if it’s just a confused pile of some crazy dream that I had.

‘Valid concerns.’

I was headed home from my internship, which I hated a lot, but I was relieved because it was my last day at that company and I was feeling really good. however it started raining and I mean it didn’t really put me off but that was a ridiculous storm, rain fell out of nowhere and it was a lot.

‘When it rains, it pours.’

‘Very true.’

The company I interned at was in a kinda bougie part of the city and there were a lot of contemporary art museums and those luxury brand stores that you don’t even want to look inside because it feels like you need to literally pay them for something like that.

‘This is true though!’

‘I agree!’

‘I feel like I lose money just looking at some of the displays!’

But well, it was raining and I ducked into an art gallery. Luckily the entrance was free and a lot of us entered the same time, clearly to get out of the sudden rain none of us were prepared for.

I thought, well, might as well browse through the art. I’ve always noticed that the art galleries here displayed really, well, bland, artwork and I was ready to be really unimpressed by a singular black dot on a white canvas titled “The Existence of Man” or something. But I was actually pleasantly surprised because there were some genuinely interesting art pieces. I decided to walk around the gallery in earnest, get some culture in, you know?

‘This-!’

‘This is so true oh my god-!’

‘The-the existence of man-!’

(short break because everyone is laughing too hard to continue)

The rain was still pretty bad, and from what I could see out of the massive glass windows, the traffic was just as bad. While I’m halfway through the gallery I notice that there’s actually washrooms at the end of the gallery as well as several vending machines. I thought, as I was going to be there for a while, I might as well get a drink or something. So I make my way all the way down and get myself something to drink and sit down on one of the benches. That’s when I notice the paintings hung all the way back.

At first I don’t really pay much attention to any of them. They were too dark and grimy for my personal taste. But then I see that painting.

I’ve always had this recurring dream.

‘Haha. Hold up.’

‘Oh no. I can tell this is not going to go well.’

‘I don’t know how, but I think I will regret this story.’

‘Me too.’

‘I need my dog can I go get my dog.’

‘Doggy break yes please!’

(please leave a like for Sowon’s adorable puppers)

And in this dream I’m standing on the edge of a broken bridge that juts out of a terrifyingly thin tower that pushes through a grey and disturbed sea. The sky is just as grey, but there’s a faint beam of sunlight.

‘Do any of you have recurring dreams?’

‘I used to have one, but I think it’s exams nerves. I always get this one dream before my exams. And it’s always that I’ve forgotten or misplaced my school ID.’

‘Okay I think everyone has that one.’

And with me, there’s another person, I always see her face. I don’t know who she is either. I read somewhere that the people we see in our dreams are people we have seen before and our mind is providing us with random faces we’ve been exposed to in the past. I don’t know who she is and yet she knows me, she knows me and she’s scared and I’m scared too and that’s the dream.

‘If I had a recurring dream like this I would simply never sleep again.’

I see this dream frequently but it never leads to anything and nothing ever leads up to it either. But this painting. It’s the exact same as the one I see in my dreams. It’s been painted from a high distant angle, the tower visible around the sea and sky that are almost the same colour. The broken bridge is clear too, and on it, just beyond where the sun illuminates the crumbling edges of the bridge, is the silhouette of the woman I don’t know.

I am stuck on my seat I’m freaking out, like how is this painting here, capturing my recurring dream down to every last detail? I’m shocked, and later that leads to me freaking out, and genuinely feeling scared for reasons I can’t really pinpoint. I don’t know why but I don’t want to get closer to the painting. But I feel like I want to know who painted it.

‘NO YOU DON’T YOU WANT TO, GO HOME GO HOME!’

I realize all the paintings hanging at the last row are from the same artist. I look at the first painting in the series, and it’s strange and disturbing, a child staring into the window of a car, the traffic light bathing him in red light. The next one is of an empty swimming pool but at the drain hole a pair of eyes stare out straight at you. Each painting is strangely disturbing and I can’t find the name of the artist only the name of each painting.

‘Oh I really regret this guys-‘

‘Unnie be strong!’

‘You can do this!’

I’m about to turn and leave when I see a woman approach the painting of my recurring dream and it’s her.

It’s her.

‘Wow I hate this.’

My feet take me towards her before I can even think about it. All I know is that she needs to step away from that painting, that she can’t allow the painting to see her. To realize she’s there. I have no game plan here, I don’t know how I’m going to approach her, what I’m going to say.

I say hi. She looks at me in confusion. She doesn’t recognize me.

She thinks I’m a student at the university she teaches at. I can tell I’m probably freaking her out because I’m not making sense, I keep telling her she needs to leave and I know I’m not making sense. I regret it so much, not being able to tell her what I want to say but how do I say it?

‘Okay but wow this dude is just going through every emotion possible at the same time I genuinely feel really bad for him.’

‘I mean, let’s say this is true, that’s a tough position to be in.’

‘If someone approached you guys like this, what would your reactions be?’

‘I’d probably freak out too and think this man was some sort of stalker.’

‘Same, I’d yell for security, cause a scene. Then I’ll call my dad to pick me up.’

She literally leaves because she’s alarmed. At least she left the gallery.

I sort of sigh in relief because at least she’s not in here.

‘Yeah I’m feeling bad for this dude.’

Then I hear the sea.

I’m shaking I strain myself trying not to look but it’s like my body is not my own and I turn my head and the painting is moving, the waves moving and the sky swirling, the sound of the sea is clear and sharp and I smell it too.

And she’s not there.

Her silhouette is not there.

‘UM-!?’

‘That…-that’s not…not how paintings work.’

I run out of the gallery. I don’t know why but I know I have to hide her or something or warn her. But outside it’s still raining and traffic is ty and I can’t find her in the crowd of umbrellas.

Being outside with all the noise around me and people and umbrellas and the rain- I feel like I sort of wake up, like I’m being pulled out of whatever fear that was inside the gallery. Maybe I was overreacting and now I’ve ruined the day of some unfortunate woman who just maybe happened to look like someone I saw in my dreams. I make my way to the bus stop, but as I pass the gallery and I look in, all the paintings at the end has changed, eyes hidden in the darkness following my movement.

I jog away from the gallery and reach the bus stop completely soaked. I message my roommate that I’m going to be late because of the traffic. I message my sister too, because she’s one of the few people who knows about my recurring dreams. When my bus pulls in I climb in and to my horror? Shock? Maybe relief? Or maybe fear, she’s there, getting on in front of me.

‘Oh no.’

‘Oh no!’

‘What?’

‘I see where this is going.’

‘This is fated.’

‘What do you mean.’

‘Please continue, I want to be wrong.’

And for some reason, the seat next to her is empty and I stand there for so long I’m getting stares and the driver yells at me. This makes her look up and she obviously recognizes me now. God I felt so bad for the obvious discomfort she was feeling. I try to get off the bus but the doors closed and we’re inching forward.

I take my seat, but I try to sit as far away as physically possible. It doesn’t work.

I don’t know what it is, my obvious discomfort and absolute self-loathing but she reaches out and asks if I’m all right. I didn’t think I could be any more uncomfortable. She asked me why I told her she needed to leave the gallery at once. I can barely look at her but I know I owe her an explanation at this point. Also really trying to prove I’m not some stalker or murderer.

‘That’s not going to be an easy task.’

I tell her that I’ve always had this one recurring dream, and it was the exact same as that painting she was looking at. And that I see her in that dream. Honestly at this point I wouldn’t blame her if she called the police on me.

Instead she tells me she was looking at the painting because she thought she saw the water move. She thought it was a digital painting, one of those motion art pieces and that’s why she was looking at it.

I finally find the courage and push through my embarrassment and look at her. She looks sympathetic towards me but also understandably and deservingly cautious.

She’s saying something I can’t remember what it is but there’s a bright light and a horrible sound coming from behind her outside of the window and I’m conscious long enough to feel something ram into the bus, long enough to feel myself fall into the air as the bus completely flips.

‘I HATE THAT I’M NOT WRONG!’

‘YOU SAW THIS COMING?’

‘THIS IS ALL CONNECTED I HATE THIS!’

‘WE’RE SORRY!’

‘Lu is cackling in front of me.’

When I wake up, it’s not in a hospital or an ambulance.

I’m inside a dark room, the walls bare concrete. There’s a horrible pain on my shoulder and I think that’s what wakes me up. I’m dizzy too, and I retch violently but nothing comes out. I think I’m alone but sitting against the wall away from me is the woman. She has scratches on her face, her hair is a mess, her clothes are also rumpled and she’s missing her shoes.

I realize I’m wearing only one of my shoes too.

‘Is it just me or are neither of these a good sign?’

She’s watching me carefully, cautiously.

I ask her where we are. She asks me instead. She clearly thinks I’ve kidnapped her or something.

‘Oh for sure I’d think this too.’

‘Me too.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Pretend to be a victim too while you’re the perpetrator- it’s something I think all women fear in a lot of situations.’

‘…’

‘…’

‘…’

And somehow, in my heart, I know we’re in the tower.

I try to sit up but my shoulder is killing me. When I look at it, I nearly faint again- I think I do, because the next moment she’s by my side, a look of horror on her face as she looks at my shoulder completely popped out. She tells me to take a deep breath and with an apology she snaps my shoulder into place.

I can’t help but scream, the pain is intense and my whole arm and shoulder and chest feels like it’s on fire. Makes me reconsider all these movies where people just walk off their dislocated shoulder injuries.

I’m panting on the ground and she moves away a safe distance again. But just as she’s moving away, a door outline appears towards the end of the room. I cannot explain it, but I could have sworn there were no doors in the room. No doors, no windows. Maybe I hadn’t seen it previously. But her reaction proves me right because she gasps, rushing back towards where I am.

The door opens slightly.

And I try my best to ignore my pain and I sit up as best as I can with an arm that feels like it’s on fire.

Past the door, I know we’re being watched. I can feel it.

Eyes.

‘I HATE THIS THANKS.’

Her voice is shaking and my own fear pushes me up, I try to block her from view, because I know whatever this is, whatever brought us here, it wants her. I don’t know how I know, but I know there’s a door behind us. I tell her to open it slowly just as a pair of grey transparent hands wrap around the edge of the door.

She’s shaking, I can feel her shake behind me. But I also hear the door handle click as she turns the knob and more hands appear. Just as she takes a step out the door bursts open and hands spill out, pushing and pulling a grotesque writhing entity of hands tumbling and rolling in a great rushing motion of sound and so much weight. The floors shake and it SCREAMS and we all but fall out of the doorway, slamming it shut only to find it smooth out to a wall.

It thuds against the walls and everything shakes and we don’t know which direction to run but we just start running anyways. I know we have to get out. We need to make it out of the tower.

There’s a doorway at the end of the tunnel and we’re running as fast as we can despite the hallway steadily turning narrower and narrower and now we’re just squeezing through and I accidently look back and hands try to grab at me, snagging my sweater and it rips it off of me as I push through even more, the walls pushing against me as though to trap me.

I feel her grab my hand and I fall out of the squeezing walls and land in a massive office space, lined with identical cubicles, each with an old PC system, a landline phone, a fluorescent lamp above it, and a picture frame with her face on it.

The office space is endless and there seems to be no end.

‘I hate this visual so much. I can’t explain how much I hate it.’

‘Me too, ugh.’

But we keep moving.

All around us, I can hear it. I hear it thudding and trying to break in. She’s crying now, panicked and afraid and I don’t know what to do. I just know we have to keep moving ahead, we can’t stay here, we need to get out.

I know that this is a part of my dream.

Was this maybe in my sub-consciousness, was I dreaming this part, would I remember it when I wake up?

Was this all a dream?

If it was, wouldn’t realizing it was a dream make me wake up? But clearly I’m not waking up. I’m still here in this hellish bizarre nightmare with a recently dislocated shoulder.

But if this was a dream. That might explain a lot of things. Like how I knew a door was behind us in that room. Could I somehow control how this dreams ends? Could I maybe direct it how I want?

The lights glitch and flicker and in the darkness, in the distance around us, I see the outline of people, all grey and strangely formless, standing, waiting and watching us.

‘This reminds me of the Greenhouse episode!’

‘You’re right!’

‘Even more terrifying now, thanks!’

I tell her that we’re in a dream, and that we need to guide and direct this dream how we want it to go.

All the phones start to ring. And then, from the furthest distance, as far as I can see in this office cubicle void, the fluorescent lamps give out one by one. She doesn’t believe me, of course she doesn’t.

But I tell her to change something, to do something, we were two, and as far as I know, as far as my gut told me, there was only one of them.

All the computer monitor screens switch on, an oddly too modern interface for the 90’s desktop. But it’s what she’s done. I can tell, because she’s starting to believe in me. We need to think of a way to get out of this place, and out of this tower. The darkness is pressing closer and in the darkness, illuminated by the glitching lights, the massive grotesque form of the body of hands writhes and roils all around them, getting closer and closer, cubicles flying in its path, the ground shaking as it gets closer.

Suddenly she starts to run.

This was the layout of her dad’s office when she was younger, she tells me. She knows the way out. I follow her and we turn sharply to the left and to my surprise the office is small and the cubicles are all different and the lighting has shifted and changed as well. And to the side, large glass sliding doors await us.

She used to come here on Fridays because her school was close by, and she would wait for her father to finish his work and they would go home together. She doesn’t look back. But I do.

This is her memory. This is-

This was all about her.

‘Oh.’

‘Ah, yeah…I was thinking that too.’

‘Right?’

‘Oh.’

She tells me she lied earlier.

She wasn’t looking at the painting only because she thought it had moved. But because the Tower was something she had dreamed of as a child after hearing a story about it from her father’s coworker. The story had given her nightmares, and her father stopped her from coming to the office after that. Her father got into a huge argument with his coworker after he found out he had told her that story. His coworker had been an artist but didn’t find any success and she remembered how he would love to tell her stories. Most of them were light hearted, but sometimes he would tell her frightening stories. Stories that gave her nightmares. He would show her his drawings.

He would call her his muse.

‘FULL ING STOP RIGHT THERE!’

‘This is wrong in every possible way.’

But despite all of the scarier stories, the dream about the Tower terrified her to her core. When she was older, she overheard from her parents that the coworker had died some years ago.

I look around and find one cubicle that is dark. No lights shine above it. Instead, the vent right above it is open and a pair of eyes are watching them again.

I think I can feel it now.

I think I understand it a bit now, as she tells me everything.

She tells me that everything so far has been everything she had nightmares about. The room without doors. The hallway that shrunk. And now this cubicle.    

This was obsession.

‘Oh my god…’

‘I-…I don’t think I want to know how this story goes.’

‘Me too.’

I don’t know how it came to this. But I would do everything I could to help her. For some reason I am here, and I would do everything to help her.

She guides us forward to the door and together we open it.

We’re in a strange room, like an attic space of sorts. All around are broken and torn up canvas, it’s strewn all over the floors. There’s paper in mountains all around them, towering high towards a ceiling I cannot see. The drawings on the canvas and paper has been violently dashed, and I don’t need to study them to know who is being depicted in the drawings.

I come to understand that she is a lecturer at a university teaching art interpretation and appreciation.

There is a cruel sense of irony, I note as we wade through the increasingly denser piles of paper and canvas.

This was where she learnt how to paint. Outside the large windows, pressing in around them, countless hands press in, watching them struggle through the layers of obsession, through depravity and shame.

An ominous rumbling sounds all around us and the mountains of paper start to fall. And it hurts.

Stacks of paper falling on a heap over you hurts and the sound is nothing you could imagine. We lock our hands and we push forward onward. I’m supposed to help her, protect her, and yet she’s guiding me through this instead. We fall through a doorway and I escape with a singular paper cut.

‘That’s very particular and I don’t like it.’

‘Me too.’

She gives me a small pale green handkerchief that has her initials stitched onto it to blot the bleeding as we find out bearings and realize we’re at a very dark tightly spiraled stone stair case.

High above, I can smell the sea, I can hear it rushing from above us.

There’s something terrifying in realizing we had been underwater the entire time.

We begin our trek up. We never let go of our hands, not once. Even when the stairs are steep- to the point we need to hoist ourselves up. The higher we climb, the smaller and steeper the stairs get, until there’s an opening- I see an opening.

We rush out into the narrow broken bridge.

She’s scared of heights. I go ahead first, turning carefully as I walk backwards. The bridge isn’t as unstable as I had feared, and then I realize-

We’re not holding hands.

(we apologize for this scream from Baekhyun we’ve muted it but you can watch him really going through it)

She had crouched to the ground, vertigo hitting her and I had stepped forward to help guide her out to the bridge.

Behind her, the door opens slowly, eyes wide staring out and for the first time it locks its gaze with me.

She hears it. She hears it call her name, she looks at me and this is my dream again. This is my dream again and-

Her name was May.

She’s in the shadow, but I’m standing in the light. Before I can reach out to her, the door opens and swallows her whole and I fall.

When I wake up this time I’m in a hospital bed, my mum is asleep on a small couch by my bed. I had been unconscious for almost a full day with some terrible head injury. Luckily I did not experience any brain injury or damage but I was under observation for a few days just to be safe.

The nurse told me my shoulder had been dislocated but somewhere along the lines, it had popped back in into place by itself. I was covered in bruises and cuts all over.

It was a miracle, but no one died. The bus driver was badly injured, but he would live.

I asked about May, and no one knew who I was talking about. I describe her to the nurses, as well as the doctors. But they told me that no one with that name or description had been brought in from the site of the accident. I refused to accept what they were telling me.

I remember my parents and sister freaking out because I was freaking out. They thought I might have lost my mind or become unhinged.

I knew May existed, I was there with her, but she had been in the shadow and I had not.

She was taken back into the tower. That tower.

And I was not.

I told my sister about what I saw. And well, she freaked out of course. She of course thought it might have been related to a head injury and honestly that’s what I thought too. Until I was allowed to go home and in my belongings that were returned to me, I found a pale green handkerchief, atop of the rest of my stuff, the small silk tag still has the thread with her initials stitched onto it.

My sister accompanied me to the art gallery and to no one’s surprise the paintings I saw with May aren’t there. I asked to speak to a guide in the gallery or to check past show archives if it was possible. I was surprised that the paintings were listed, and that The Tower was part of a collection of paintings from an unknown artist.

I tried to find out more about the artist and the paintings but other than what the website of the gallery had to offer, I found nothing. I’ve sent the link to the paintings for the art gallery.

Is it possible that this was all some sort of brain trauma, PTSD? For sure, I’m not saying it can’t be. But it just doesn’t feel like it to me. I hope you’ll like this story, and if it’s selected to be read, thank you very much!

‘…’

‘…’

‘…’

‘…’

‘…’

‘…’

‘I need ice cream I need something to help me cope be right back-!’

(if you too need some ice cream, please pause here!)

(10 second b-roll of Baekhyun being unable to eat ice-cream and a close-up zoom of Minseok-hyung’s face of disgust)

‘Okay so, I see most of us have moved to a bright and sunny place!’

‘We absolutely have!’

‘Need some good vitamin K!’

‘Is it K or D?’

‘I don’t know, whatever will protect me from this story.’

‘Once again, we did not know this story would be the one we were reading today, we can only apologize if it was too much.’

‘Absolutely not! What a good story!’

‘Agreed!’

‘Horrifying, but very interesting, and unique! I don’t think I’ve really heard a story like this.’

‘Me too!’

‘Actually same.’

‘Thanks again, Lu hyung, for another horrifying pick. I think we need to ban you from picking out other stories.’

‘You do realize Minseok-hyung approves of these right.’

‘…’

‘Can we see the paintings?’

‘Yes, I’ve saved all of them and I can share them right now.’

‘I’m sort of apprehensive to be honest.’

(30 seconds later)

‘…’

‘…’

‘…’

‘…’

‘I think the composition is nice!

Maybe a bit heavy with the dark tones, but overall, very atmospheric!’

‘Ignore him, what do you think Yuju-shii?’

‘Okay, ignoring all of that, as in the story, these paintings are very…they feel heavy. It could be the colours, but there’s a heaviness to them. It would be very interesting to see them in real life, how big are they?’

‘Most of them are 30 by 40.’

‘That’s large.’

‘I’m not a very artistic person but I feel like these paintings definitely have that sort of feeling, like uh, you know in some games or movies, like portals?’

‘Oh, Sowon-shii why would you say it like that?’

‘She’s with her dog and out in the sun she’s feeling brave.’

‘Horror story aside, I think there’s a lot to be said about what our writer mentioned.’

‘Oh, you mean not being sure if it was all just in his head, a result of maybe trauma? Like, literal head trauma?’

‘A very intense anxiety dream maybe. He was under a lot of stress before this, and well, if this is true, and though we’re not sure where the dream actually starts and where reality ends, I think he might have been going through a lot of stress in general.’

‘That is a possibility for sure. I know I have really stupid anxiety dreams. Mostly about really gross public restrooms.’

‘Oh no, I get those too!’

(bonding over anxiety dreams)

‘I think recurring dreams are interesting!

I’ve never had one myself, but maybe it’s just I don’t remember it.’

‘I don’t think, again, I’d sleep ever again if I had recurring dreams this disturbing. Just the premise of the recurring dream our writer has is-….it’s unsettling. I think it’s safe to say that more than anything this story is unsettling.’

‘If this is true, and lets pretend it is for a moment, how is he connected to all of it?’

‘Oh, I didn’t think you’d be asking that.’

‘No, but like, I think there has to be a connection right? Somehow?’

‘Maybe he did know her, when he was younger, or something. Maybe he’s specifically in-tune to things like this.’

‘Oh like, he doesn’t realize he’s a psychic or something?’

‘Yeah! Or it’s just-‘

‘-destiny?’

‘Fate?’

‘Well…things do happen for no reason.’

‘I think my question here is where did she go?’

‘I think I’d rather not think about that part.

To be honest.’

‘Yeah…especially after hearing what she had to say…it’s…-well, you’re not going to find a happy ending at the end of whatever path your mind takes you down, if you know what I mean.’

‘Yeah…’

‘Or maybe…’

‘Yes?’

‘Maybe he, as in the writer of the story, was there, because he was meant to witness what happened.’

‘Oh?’

‘This might be a controversial take but…as an artist, I do love to create for my own sake of course- but I also want to show it to others. My art is a story- not everyone knows how to read it, and maybe I don’t know how to read it too. But sometimes, I just want other people to see it. To read it. And that’s not possible unless you have someone to witness it.’

‘I guess you could say, it’s like if a tree falls in a forest and no one is there to witness it, did it actually make any sound? The answer is yes, but if no one is there to hear it, how can we say for sure?’

‘Oh…’

‘Oh.

You know, I think I like that. That’s a really good take.’

‘And so, as we are looking at these paintings, we’re listening to the story, it lives on. And it’s because someone was there.’

‘Someone was there in the forest.’

‘Well! I think, before we get too lost in our thoughts we should sign off for the day!’

‘And also quick shout out to Eunha, Yerin, and Umji! We joing MAGO for a special collaboration on their channel and we talk about editing, cameras, and some boring technical stuff if you’re interested!’

‘It’s not boring! It’s genuinely wonderful content and these days a lot of people are joining the streaming community and I’m sure they would love your advise and comments!’

‘Ah, you’re all too kind.’

‘Thank you again for coming on to our show, even if the story was honestly disturbing.’

‘We enjoyed it! Thanks for having us!’

‘And as always, thank you guys for tuning in and listening to us.’

‘Everyone please stay safe, wash your hands, wear a mask, we love you!’

‘Bye!’

‘Bye!!’

*

MAGO Academy: Thanks again for having us!

LMLY SOTY: listen this whole story could very well be a hoax but…but there’s something about it that makes me want to believe this guy really experienced something

Love Me Only Till The Spring: UM THOSE PAINTINS LOOK ED UP? LITERALLY HAD TO ASK MY SISTER TO OPEN THE LINK AND CHECK IT FOR ME BECAUSE I COULDN’T? SHE SAID IT WAS FINE AND IT WASN’T FINE

Let’s Romanticize This Y’all: he was wearing one shoe in his “dream”- this normally symbolizes something coming full circle, something being completed. I think him seeing this whole dream, whether or not it was real, was a completion of, well, the meaning behind why he saw those dreams all the time I guess.

Yeah, Feel Like A Paradise: their faces when Eun Bi was talking about the paranoia women face everyday…yeah guys, it IS exhausting.

Lets get this bread buttered: god I really wish this was all just in his head and he imagined everything and it was all a dream I really hope it is

spider tiger: he had only one shoe, and she had lost both of her. A quick google search has just informed me that dreaming of yourself without your shoes or losing your shoes symbolizes personal safety being violated, or is associated to that of death or grief.

Will you be my Bambi?: I cannot possibly full express my discomfort with this story

I will float my dream like a catcher: Smh they’re trying so hard to be woke by inviting these girls to their channel it’s pathetic

DaeDroid: I’ve had recurrig dreams too but this is…a whole different level

minghaoFrogagenda: Physical trauma like accidents and stuff, or when you’re going through it, is interesting because of how your brain reacts to it. Sometimes to cope with something horrible that’s happening, your brain will produce something worse to like, set a contrast of like ‘this is worse than what you’re going through’ or something like that. Don’t take my word for it though. Either way if this is true wtf and if this is a hoax bro your mind wtf

Where there is a will, there is an iam: Eun Bi’s face as the story progressed. She was NOT impressed.

6960 Magic: If you guys are interested, the girls at MAGO spoke about this in one of their personal vlogs. It’s really cute, they discuss the story as well as working with the Unsolved Guys. And the collab on their channel is actually really good too! Highly recommend!

Mareete: Some of my worst nightmares are about being late for exams and some people are out here seeing blockbuster Hollywood production level movies I need to step up my nightmares smh

Minho’s Bridge in Atlantis Saved My Life: omg I love mago they have such wholesome but educational content I love them so much I had no idea they’d do a collaboration like this! Also sowon is a whole mood, I too watched this out on my rooftop

Bocchann: This is literally the worst. But also I think maybe the most untrue story ever from this channel? It freaked me out ofc but there’s just no way this is true.

Right?

i am chaos swallowed up in love: omg this is an unexpected but wonderful collab! I’m so happy MAGO are on here, they’re a small channel but it’s such a nice supportive community, I hope we can see more people tuning in!

Erikyoooooooonggggg_ggg: Did…did Baekhyun just try and eat that icecream whole…fail…and then try to feed Jongdae the bit in his mouth while it was STILL in his mouth???????

Professional Procrastinator 3000: @Erikyoooooooonggggg_ggg  It would seem he did. Minseok’s expression was everything to me.

Sehun_omayaaaaaa: @Erikyoooooooonggggg_ggg  - hyung is a multi-talented man

*

Author’s Notes

Fun fact, this story IS directly from my dream, everything about it is almost EXACTLY how I saw it in my dream

Also random question, well first a small intro but I’ve had weird dreams for a long time and I’ve written down a few of them out in story form and this is one of them, and I’ve always wanted to write them out in fully fleshed storylines with fully formed characters. Would anyone be interested in reading them, not as a fanfic with the boys or anything, but just how I wrote them some years back?

Also update on my work!

I’m enjoying it!

Shocking I know, to enjoy one’s work

But I truly am! I’m quite proud of what I’ve been making too, and evne though this isn’t exactly the field I want to do, it’s one I’m familiar with and I feel like I’m becoming more confident in myself as a result too! I’m basically creating the whole brand identity for an online education institute and honestly guys, who knew it was possible to enjoy your work

But I think we’re gonna start work from home in a couple of days.

Update we have started WfH

So do any of you have any recurring dreams? I’ve dreamt of this tower several times before I still don’t know why but it’s been several years now I haven’t seen it so *wipes of sweat* that’s nice.

ALSO WHO IS EXCITED FOR NEW EXO ALBUM AND NEW SONG/MV IT LOOKS LIKE IT’S GONNA SCI-FI I WILL CRY

Also I made a fun edit for this au on my twitter here!

Please enjoy =)

Also stan talent stan comedy stan amazing discography stan gfriend