A/N: From this point now on, I borrowed a lot of elements from the movie Inception. So I hope you guys watched the movie already in order to understand some of the terminologies I used here. :)

“So, this house is your psychiatrist’s house?” Seunghyun asks casually once all four of them get out from Kyunsoo’s car.

“Well, that’s what he said,” Yoonseo chuckles, nodding at Kyunsoo who scurries towards the two of them.

Putting her hands on her pants pockets, she sighs at the sight in front of her eyes. Having made an appointment to meet Seongwoo on this Sunday, Kyunsoo even went as far as accompanying them to get there. But she didn’t expect Seongwoo’s new house to be this big, nor did she expect him to move house. Nevertheless, she is beyond relieved to be able to meet her psychiatrist, and wonders how they’ve changed as well.

Kyunsoo quickly jogs and presses the button of the intercom that was planted on the wall beside the door. After some self-identification and stating his intention to come here, they waited for a moment before the door opens, revealing a woman in her mid-twenties, wearing a pastel-colored dress and a typical house shoes. The woman smiles upon seeing Kyunsoo, evident from her lighten-up eyes as she flips her hair backwards.

“Ah! Kyunsoo-sshi, you came!” the woman chirpily greets him, and then proceeds on hugging him. “You’re here to meet my husband?”

“As a matter of fact; yes I am, Jaekyung-sshi.”

Before Yoonseo can utter any response, Jaekyung’s gaze quickly switches to her. “Oh my goodness, Yoonseo! Is that you?”

Yoonseo forces a smile at her. “Ah, y-yes?”

“Wow,” says Jaekyung as her eyes scans Yoonseo’s appearance up close, her fingers brushing her chin in observation. “That hair. It certainly has been long since you have that kind of hairstyle. So you decided to change back to the old one you once had years ago?”

“Eh? I don’t understand-”

“I’m sorry to interrupt, Jaekyung-sshi,” Seunhyun cuts their conversation while putting a hand on Yoonseo’s shoulder. “But I certainly believe that Seongwoo-sshi is waiting for us?”

“Ah, that’s right! I really am easy to get distracted. Really sorry,” Jaekyung laughs, then lets them get inside the house by stepping aside, clearing some space for them to get in. “Come on, then!”

-

“Darling! They’re here!” Jaekyung calls out after knocking exactly three times on the door of Seongwoo’s office. However, Yoonseo isn’t aware that Kyunsoo knows Seongwoo is having an appointment with someone who is familiar with them.

“Just come inside,” Seongwoo’s voice echoes, and that’s when Yoonseo gasps in surprise once Jaekyung opens the door, showing not only Seongwoo, but also Jaejoong, who sits on the opposite side from Seongwoo.

“Kim Jaejoong?” Yoonseo speaks, grabbing his attention. His expression is the same as that of Yoonseo’s; utter shock. His is more evident that Yoonseo’s as he nearly falls from his chair, and is lucky enough to regain his composure.

“Oh, Kyunsoo! I see that you’re getting along quite well with Yoonseo?” Seongwoo questions Kyunsoo who stores his glasses away. “Last time I saw you, you were so furious when I mentioned her name in front of you. And I believe she’s supposed to be in America right now?”

“Oh, no no. It’s only because the Yoonseo here is not her,” Kyunsoo smirks at the psychiatrist. Seongwoo’s casual smile changes into his slightly confused expression as his eyebrow shot upwards.

Seongwoo walks towards Kyunsoo while Jaekyung leads both Yoonseo and Seunghyun to the sofa. He leans in and whispers, trying not to let the others hear his voice. “What do you mean, Yoonseo is not her?”

“I believe explaining the entire thing would be very bothersome, and really, I don’t know any better way to explain this,” Kyunsoo nods at Yoonseo. “I really think you should ask her by yourself. But in general, I can only give you one general idea on her identity.”

“What is it, then?”

Kyunsoo inhales deeply, trying to give out one idea that Seongwoo can understand as his foot taps the floor slowly. “She is the old her.”

Seemingly curious at his statement, the psychiatrist waste no more seconds and the next thing he knew, he had settled himself beside her.

“So, you’re not from this time-frame, are you?” he begins.

Yoonseo nods. “I undoubtedly am not.”

“Well,” Seongwoo muses, “why don’t you tell us what happened the moment before you arrived here?”

-

“So, what are you doing here?” Yoonseo asks, looking carefully at Jaejoong.

He coughs. “I have something to ask of Seongwoo-sshi, and very urgent.”

“Really?” she furrows her eyebrow, glancing at Seingwoo who now stands up. Jaejoong only nods and flashes a smile to her, and for a moment, she can see a tingle of sadness on his smile. But she decides to brush it away.

Walking towards his table, the door opens at the same time, revealing Jaekyung who pushes a tray with a bowl of freshly-sliced apples and glasses of cold roasted tea clinking slightly due to the vibrations of the rolling tray. Once Seongwoo is seated on his armchair, Jaekyung places each glass on the table near the sofa, encouraging the guests to grab one. She then sits beside Yoonseo, who personally hands her a glass of tea, in which she gladly accepts.

“I assumed you’ve heard on the current Rin’s conditions, yes?” Seongwoo begins.

Yoonseo nods thoughtfully while the others enjoy the drink in silence. “Kyunsoo explained a lot more than I expected,” she says. “And I honestly didn’t see it coming.”

“Neither do I,” Seongwoo implies. “But I’m not going to waste another minute on another rubbish explanation. Jaejoong’s request is actually more urgent than that.”

“What request, to be exact?” Kyunsoo cuts in, leaning forward to show his interest.

The psychiatrist sinks his body a bit further onto the cushioned arm chair while shifting his legs to a more comfortable position. “I think you should explain this to them, Jaejoong.”

With a nod, Jaejoong drags his chair towards Yoonseo, and quickly settles down right in front of her while making sure that both Kyunsoo and Seunghyun can hear what he wants to say.

“I had a fight with Rin before she flew to America for her next project,” he begins. “She planned on having a concert, approximately 2-3 weeks from now. She slipped by saying that she planned on using her eye power to ‘mind-control’ the audiences, and we had a fight about it.”

“Wait, hold on,” Yoonseo cuts, waving her hands to stop him midway. “Since when Rin could use her eyes to ‘mind-control’ others? I thought that ability only affects the owner, not affecting others?”

“Rin hid it from me; she didn’t say anything,” Seongwoo answers her instead of Jaejoong. “I once suggested for her to either have a specialized surgery on her eyes, or having me to extract that power from her eyes with the latest, available technology. But she secretly learned to adapt and use her eyes for her own advantage from God knows who.”

Yoonseo opens , wanting to ask something else, before closing and motions Jaejoong to continue.

“So when she went to America, I made an appointment with Seongwoo-sshi to discuss this matter, and I made it today. And that’s when you guys came in. I wanted him to think of a plan on making her change her mind on that,” he continues. “Not only that, but I wanted him to make her return to her old self at the same time. She’s slowly becoming a monster, and I wanted to stop that at any cost. It will not only affect me, but it will affect others if this continues.”

The three guests sit still, unable to process them in. Meanwhile, Yoonseo places her hand above his, trying to comfort him.

“So, what do you have in mind?” Yoonseo asks as she glances to Seongwoo, and the latter rummages for a file on his desk and walks towards them.

“This is what I’m planning to do,” he shows the document on his hand, smiling knowingly at her. “It’s called mind-drift. I coined it.”

Everyone looks confused at the term, except Jaekyung and Yoonseo. However, Yoonseo’s face darkens as she looks up to him.

“Was that the thing you’ve always wanted to try out?” she quietly asks.

“Yes, indeed. I recalled we had a talk about this, but I haven’t tried it yet since it’s not really that convincing back then,” Seongwoo says, nodding. “But both I and Jaekyung did an experiment to explore the depths of it. So in conclusion, yes we were successful on diving into one’s subconscious-”

“Um, excuse me,” Seunghyun coughs, earning their attention. “What is mind-drift, exactly?”

“It’s quite complicated to be explained, theoretically,” Seongwoo utters, walking towards a white board and spins the board, revealing a series of doodles and writings on it. “In general, it’s a method of entering one’s subconscious mind when both people experience shared dreaming. This can be done using experimental military technology, and for a year, I was experimenting with this to help my patients in the future.”

He then takes out a medium-sized silver suitcase, putting it on his table. “Me and Jaekyung did this once, using this device called PASIV. I entered Jaekyung’s subconscious mind and we both tried to explore the possibilities of the dream world. She’s the subject, while I’m the dreamer. Laws of physics simply don’t exist there, but it is possible to think of the dream as reality if you lose the grip of differentiating both realms. We were nearly trapped down there.”

“Anyways, to enter the dream, one must have a totem,” Jaekyung adds. “The totem is the only thing that can prove whether you’re in the dream world or reality. No one else must know or hold your totem. It will destroy its purpose.”

“Why’s that?” Jaejoong asks simply.

“Because if it happens, then the one who touched it will know the weight and the behavior of the totem you possessed. He or she can lie to you, forcing you to stay in the dream world,” Jaekyung sternly says.

“Anyways, now we got the concept of mind-drift. What do you have in mind to respond to his request?” Seunghyun asks, nodding at Jaejoong.

“A friend of mine performed the same experiment that I wanted to use. Since we couldn’t do anything to convince Rin to change her mind about the things she planned, I was sort of forced to try this method,” he clarifies. “My friend successfully implemented the idea to the target’s subconscious mind, and the target accepted the planted idea. That was the one thing I was afraid of doing since the risk of failing is high.”

Upon finishing his sentence, Yoonseo’s grip on the sofa’s edge tightens at Seongwoo’s explanation. “You didn’t mean that, did you?”

“No, I really meant that,” Seongwoo confirms. “My friend successfully performed inception on the target. That is why a simplest form of the idea that will be planted is needed, and has to be as simple as possible.”

“Is that really possible?” Kyunsoo skeptically asks. “That’s just a little bit illogical, though.”

“It is possible,” Jaekyung nods. “Because the mind of the subject, when experiencing shared dreaming, is the most vulnerable and prone to new ideas. When the subject is back to reality, the planted idea, if successful, will replace the subject’s old idea.”

Seongwoo then turns his head to Jaejoong. “When will she return?”

Instantly, Jaejoong fishes out his phone and swipes his finger on it. “Approximately 1 week from now,” he answers after checking his phone calendar.

“Well, isn’t that more than enough for us to plan,” Seongwoo muses, then his eyes get serious again. “This is the only method, and the only possible way, to have her change her mind. It’s either we take a shot on using this method or see her turning into a complete monster.”

“Are you very sure about this?” Jaejoong asks; his tone shows him slightly unconvinced of Seongwoo’s rather risky plan.

Seongwoo looks at the cautiously, with his eyes peeking out from under his front hair. “I don’t think we have any other better way to do this, hm? The risk is high, yes. But there’s a 50/50 chance of it being successful. And that’s why a week of planning is beyond enough for us.”