Chapter One: The Wake of Shame

Seohyun felt the morning sun on her skin as she slowly came into consciousness. A soft murmur left her lips and she grinned to herself, feeling well rested.

Someone next to her stirred. Maybe Hyoyeon unnie had decided to cuddle after having an argument. She yawned and blinked with blurry eyes, expecting to wake up to a wall. When she realized that the sun was coming from a window in front of her, she jerked awake. She looked from the window to the sheets. Something wasn’t right. The sheets were an elaborate black and gold bedspread, something she had never seen before. She sat up, feeling incredibly worn out, as if she had run a marathon before going to bed. Her inner thighs ached. When she put her hand under the sheet, she realized she wasn’t wearing her pajamas. In fact, she wasn’t wearing anything at all.

She looked under the covers and gasped. Why wouldn’t she be wearing her pajamas? She hugged the sheet tightly around her, and her heart began pounding when she looked around the room. This was certainly not her and Hyoyeon’s bedroom. The walls were a light gold color, and there was black modern looking bedroom furniture scattered about neatly in some sort of artistic design. There was a closet and bathroom that connected to the room. The room was huge.

The person next to her stirred again, this time, more alert and ready to rise.

“Hyoyeon unnie?” Seohyun’s voice shook.

Short black hair appeared from under the sheet, and there was a groan. The person rolled over and slowly opened their eyes.

“Wae?” came a deep voice.

Seohyun screamed bloody murder.

*******

Yonghwa blinked with blurry eyes, wondering why the hell Jungshin was in his bed. They were going to the army for goodness sakes! Jungshin needed to cut out this maknae crap. He didn’t expect the high-pitched scream of death, a sound that Jungshin could never make.

His eyes shot wide open. It was a maknae in his bed alright, but it sure as hell wasn’t Jungshin.

He took in all the information quickly, unable to make sense of any of it. Seohyun had flung herself off the side of the bed, taking the sheet with her, leaving him exposed. He realized that she wasn’t wearing any clothes and neither was he. He quickly dived on the other side of the bed, feeling embarrassed. What all had she seen?

“What are you doing here!” he shouted.

“Ottoke! What did you do to me?!” she screamed accusingly at him, panic etched all over her face. 

“I didn’t do anything to you! Wae?!”

Yonghwa looked away from her, feeling angry and confused. The more he looked around the room, the more he realized that he was not in his dorm. The décor was definitely something he’d choose, but there was no way he could afford anything sitting in this room. Were they at a hotel? Oh goodness, what had they done?

Seohyun made an undistinguishable noise in . When he looked back over to her, she looked as though she had seen a ghost. She was pointing to something above the bed. He knitted his eyebrows together and followed her finger. What he saw gave the feeling as though he had been punched in the stomach.

Above the bed was a large, majestic wedding picture. In the picture, Yonghwa was the groom and Seohyun was the bride.

He stared at it incredulously. Then quickly at his left hand. Sure enough, there was a ring on his finger. Seohyun did the same and saw her ring as well.

“When did this happen?” he muttered, more to himself than to her.

“My Omma is going to murder me!” Seohyun broke into tears. “What did you do to me?”

Yonghwa growled in impatience and frustration. “I don’t know how any of this happened. I didn’t do anything to you.”

“Oh, trust me, you did,” she sneered, wincing.

“What’s wrong with you?”

“My entire body hurts.” She didn’t meet his eye.

Yonghwa shook his head of her words. There was no way that they had… done it. Absolutely no way. He looked at the wedding photo again and pulled another sheet off the bed, wrapping it around himself like a toga. He stood on the bed to get a good look at the picture.

“We didn’t just take this picture,” he said after a while of observing it. “The wedding looks super expensive, and we look really happy. There’s no way we paid for this entirely by ourselves or kept this a secret. And why would we hang this photo above a bed at a hotel? It doesn’t make sense.”

“Waking up like this doesn’t either. Explain that, Yonghwa Oppa,” Seohyun snapped.

“If it’s what I’m thinking, I’d rather not tell you.” His mind was in overdrive.

“I’m dreaming,” Seohyun perked up. “It’s more like a nightmare, but I’m definitely dreaming.”

“So we’re sharing the same dream?” Yonghwa asked, questioning the chances and possibility of that.

“Maybe you’re not really here. Maybe you’re just going along with the act in my conscience,” she offered.

“I’m not going along with any act! This is crazy, and it’s not a dream. I’ve dreamed about things like this before, but… Seohyun, look around. I don’t think I’ve ever dreamed this vividly before.”

Seohyun pinched herself and let out a whiny cry. “It’s not a dream. Ottoke!”

“Seohyun, I think we’re actually married. And I think this is our apartment. I think… we’ve waken up in the future,” he pushed out the words, aware of how crazy he sounded.

She stared at him for a long time before screaming “WHAT?! How does that make more sense than just dreaming?”

“You don’t watch enough movies. I’m telling you, that’s what’s going on here. What’s the last thing you remember before going to bed?”

She thought quickly. “Falling asleep, in my own bed at the dorm.”

“Me too. I had military training in the morning. I specifically remember going to bed. So either we’re both terrific sleepwalkers who got married, had time for photos, moved into an apartment, and ended up in bed together or we’re in the future.”

She gasped, remembering something. “There’s something else. Before I went to bed, I got this weird call.”

Call. Phone. Purple. Diamond. Yonghwa went ghost pale. “Was a diamond spinning on your phone?”

“Nae,” she nodded. “A woman called, asking weird questions to me about Hyoyeon unnie. I couldn’t hang up on her. I told myself it was a prank so I didn’t think anything of it. Did the woman call you too?”

“Nae. She did what she said she’d do.”

“What was that?”

“Brought me here,” he frowned. “Seohyun, that woman, she did this. She sent us into our future.”

Seohyun massaged her temples. “Listen to yourself. That’s impossible.”

“There’s only one way to find out.” He looked to the door opposite the large window and nodded towards it. “Let’s look around and try to make sense of this. If we’re dreaming, maybe we’ll talk ourselves into waking up.”

“Annio. I don’t know what’s out there. What if we fall into a black abyss?”

“Ok, then what’s your plan?” Now he was irritated. Had she always been this annoying? One minute, accusing him or taking advantage of her and the next, insisting they stay in the room covered by sheets.

“Let’s get back into bed, try to fall back asleep, and then we’ll wake up. Jjiang!” she smiled with uncertainty.

“Chincha? You think that’ll work?”

“Nae. Let’s try. But you stay on your side, and I’ll stay on mine.”

Cautiously, they climbed back in bed, their individual sheets tugged tightly around their bodies. They lay in the large king-sized bed with almost three feet between them. Seohyun trembled as she closed her eyes. After about five minutes, it was clear that the both of them were too afraid and awake to fall back asleep.

“This is stupid. I’m going out there,” Yonghwa huffed after awhile and climbed out of bed.

“Wait!”  Seohyun called after him. She, too, climbed out of bed and followed him to the door.

Yonghwa took a breath and opened it slowly. Peeking out, he braced himself for the worst.

But the worst turned out to be that they were in a luxurious apartment, spotless and modern, yet full of warmth and personality. Pictures and artwork were everywhere, some large and some small. The kitchen was a light shade of blue and white, and the living room was all white with splashes of color in the décor, including four electric guitars mounted to the wall. Seohyun saw the large white grand piano in a cozy corner. There were another two doors leading somewhere else. 

Seohyun and Yonghwa were astonished. Pictures of the two of them, cuddling and laughing in different clothes in different scenes were all over the place. Seohyun couldn’t believe how happy and in love she looked, her smile almost unreal. Yonghwa’s heart pounded in the mere way he looked at her in each picture or held her body close to his as if she were apart of his own. Yonghwa and Seohyun in the pictures were madly in love. There were other pictures too, but one stood out, a large picture of a little girl displayed in the living room.

“Uh, who is that?” asked Yonghwa, knowing Seohyun wouldn’t have an answer.

But before anyone could try to figure it out, they heard a noise in the small hallway where their bedroom was. Both turned to find the source.

Again, Seohyun let out a piercing scream. Yonghwa almost had a heart attack. In front of them, next to their bedroom door stood a little girl in her pajamas holding a teddy bear, looking curiously at them as if seeing them for the first time. She looked no older than 4 years old and was beautiful, her black hair framing her adorable little face and intelligent eyes. The three of them stood absolutely still, staring at each other until the little girl determined that they were safe after all, smiled brightly, and ran toward them.

“Omma, Appa!” she yelled with glee, throwing herself onto Seohyun’s legs. Seohyun stared down at her in horror then over to Yonghwa.

“Omma?” she asked him.

“Appa?” he asked her.

“Goodmorning!” said the little girl, now hugging Yonghwa’s legs while he stood awkwardly. “Yunji’s hungry! And so is Pudding!” She held the bear up to them.

Seohyun pointed at her “Yunji?” and then pointed to the bear “Pudding?”

“Nae! Omma, I’m hungry!”

“There’s a child calling me ‘Omma’,” Seohyun whispered gravely.

“Seohyun, welcome to your future,” Yonghwa mumbled, earning him a glare. Yunji attached herself Seohyun’s legs again.

At that exact moment, the doorbell rang.         

A/N: I wonder who's at the door :) ? Don't expect updates daily lol I just wanted to get this first chapter up. What did you guys think??