Reading guide
Italics = inner world conversation
* = new term explained below

"Oy, Park Jisung!" Jisung turned around hearing the familiar voice. Sat at a picnic table was his new theatre buddy along with a neatly clad companion.  Jisung didn't prepare himself for meeting another person that day but he felt it would be rude to just ignore Chenle, especially since he wasn't even going home yet. He gave them a timid wave and hurried to sit with them.

"That's Huang Renjun. He's studying traditional music" Jisung shook the extended hand of the petite Chinese man.

"You make friends very quickly" he remarked to Chenle who replied with a confident smirk.

"Want some strawberry milk? I have a spare one" Jisung reached for the drink.

"Hell no, we're not having that"

"Actually, I'm good" Jisung retracted his hand and stoked the side of his hair. Both men gave him weird looks which only made the situation more awkward. He was feeling slightly blurry, the presence of Jaemin uncomfortably close to the surface of his consciousness. They had discussed it before. It was supposed to be his day and everybody was supposed to stay out of it. Yet artificial strawberry flavouring was the one thing that without a fail would bring Jaemin forward. The only reason why he hadn't fully front* was probably Jisung's request to spend this day alone. As much as he appreciated Jaemin's good will, now they were stuck in an uncomfortable state of the inbetween.

"Hey, Jisung..." he felt a gentle hand wrap around his shoulder and giving him a slight shake. It helped him snap back to reality.

"Are we really that boring? You look like you're about to fall asleep with your eyes open" Chenle laughed the situation off which Jisung was very thankful for. He wasn't nosy about what happened and that was all Jisung needed at that moment.

"Yeah, I didn't sleep well last night" he went along with his friend's assumption.

"Don't worry about uni, it's really not that hard. Don't lose your sleep over it" Renjun replied reassuringly. Jisung nodded, his gaze resting on Chenle's hands. Rather small for his proportions, childishly full compared to his skinny figure. He had to hold back an urge to compare them to his large, bony ones. These delicate, almost sweet hands, the way they felt on his shoulder, such a stark contrast to Chenle's seemingly brash personality.

Jisung was soon to start his next class. He bid his goodbye to his new friends and rushed towards the Dance Department building.

"See what happened? We weren't supposed to make friends" Haechan sounded disappointed. His usual tactic was to avoid outsiders and keep everything within the system**.

"He has to talk to people, let him have a normal university experience" reasoned Mark. Probably the only alter*** that could successfully stop Haechan from spiraling into imagining the worst case scenarios.

"It's not a big deal, we know how to pretend to be Jisung. Jaemin, next time just come forward. It was a nice gesture to hold back but being a disassociated mess is probably worse than you fronting" as the protector of the stystem, Jeno held the most authority. He was often a calm and peaceful mediator between all of them. He was Jisung's first alter. He always made sure to put Jisung first and make the system a comfortable and safe environment for him. Honesty, without Jeno they would be chaos personified.

Jaemin stayed quiet, still embarrassed about the incident. He was a sweet and caring presence within the system. Not too keen on going into the outside world. Just like Haechan, he valued relationships within the system over external ones. He was happy to offer affection and understanding to any alter making him a reliable person to confide in.

As the conversation was going on in the depths of his mind, Jisung was dancing all of his anxieties away. That was why he came to the Institute in the first place. Dance was his greatest passion and although he didn't like to brag, he was pretty confident in his skills. As he was repeating the instuctor's choreography, his muscle memory slowly guiding his moves on its own, a single memory brought a silly smile to his face. A feeling of a soft hand on his shoulder.

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*front - the identity that is currently conscious/the most conscious is described as "fronting"

**system - all of the identities within one body

***alter - a single identity in the system

Author's note

Hi, hope you enjoy this story. If you have any questions or comments, leave them below~