Chapter One: Intruders!

We need to learn to speak through silence. Even the dead have something to say.

In Jiyong’s dream landscape was sun-dappled glen with green grass, yellow flowers, and a pair of big trees which has been shielding his soft, milk skin from the sun rays which have been giving his sensitive skin tingles. The breeze was sweet and light, with a flowery-rich aroma that reminded him so much of the spring. Jiyong inhaled the sweet scent appreciatively and smiled at his new creation. In many years he hadn’t been able to sniff even dirt. But living so long in this world of his, he’d figured out how to use his senses one by one, and now he can do a bunch of things like: see, smell, and speak. He knew there were others senses out there he still needed to find and then master, but he was clueless of what they were. 

Jiyong had simply learned that everything could be mastered with time, that’s why he’d never had an issue on patience. Jiyong could only wait. It was the very thing he did best anyways.

‘Look, Doc! His nose just wrinkled! I think he likes Lilacs.                         Hey, do you like Lilacs, beautiful?’

Jiyong sat upright under his big tree, horrified. Someone had just jarred a foot into his head, trying—with a punk of success—to invade his dream. He couldn’t help but wonder: What was this sound? Who was this person? It did not sound like either of his parents. And then it had hit him, he’s had actually developed a new sense; listening. He could certainly identify some sounds in his usually silent globe. The muted birds were making shrieking noises he’d never heard before. He remembered these noises—he used to listen to them when he went to the playgrounds with his mom and dad. Jiyong sighed. Good days. He missed them. But first, who was this person talking to him? Jiyong wanted to know. He squinted his closed eyes in demand, and waited for the unwelcomed guest to justify their presence and clarify their identity to him.

‘Oh. Sunbae-nim, look! He’s scrunching his eyes. Can he hear me?                 Can you hear me, little one?’

‘Really? Move. Let me see!’ another voice said, a lot more rougher than the one that has spoken just minutes ago. Jiyong cringed in his brain. He did not appreciate the second voice too much, he’d much rather listen to the one that was prior instead, because this one was so unpleasant and made him feel uncomfortable in his sleep.

‘Mm, his brows are knitting as if he’s worried. It’s like he’s having a bad dream. Maybe he thinks a wolf is chasing him or something, I don’t know. What do you think, Seungri?’ the ugly voice said, a hoot of laughter coloring its voice as it went. Jiyong wanted this loud voice to get as far away as it could get from him. He hated it, but it continued to speak anyway. ‘You know, Seungri-ssi. Case no.0138, has never been virtually active before. In fact, it rarely ever showed any signs or responses to the outer world. Even when it had hit puberty—I personally thought it was a miracle, considering the fact that we’d had this young man since he was just five! I don’t know how he managed, or what the hell he’d dreamt of that night, all I knew is that I came here one morning and just saw a very visible Adam’s apple in his neck, and a tiny stain of down there. I was so shocked and I kept studying his case, trying to find an answer to this phenomenon. My only explanation is, someone must have access to his mind, otherwise, there’s no way in hell this kid could’ve learned about stuff when he’d been living all of his life in coma!’ The coarse voice exhaled a sigh and then continued brightly, ‘Patients whom are in coma are dead-weight actually, so it was quite shocking for me to come one morning and see that! It was the only sign that told me that this person was actually alive and... well… ing, would be the right word to say!’

Jiyong heard the equally ugly laughter and wished if he could just turn his head away, but the sound seemed to be coming from all directions. He just had to suffer and endure it. Just when Jiyong thought it was getting too much for his newly inherited eardrums to take it, that kind and sweet voice had started speaking again. Jiyong felt some of the tension in his brain wear off, and he couldn’t be more thankful to that gentle voice.

‘Could he ever wake up, Doc? I mean he’s showing signs and everything, might as well, you know…’

Wake up? Jiyong did not wish to leave his silent world—well not all silent anyway, but still… His mother said this was the safest place for him to be, so why would he think otherwise. He knew his mother had loved him too much; she sought for what’s best for him, and nothing but the best. Jiyong knew.

‘No but you can join him. Confer with him if you want, see if he wishes to come back. I can send you into his dream world; there’s this technology…’ and the voice went on and on, explaining thing that Jiyong did not necessarily understand, so he simply blocked them out of his mind except for the first part of the speech where it says, someone else can join him in his dream world. He didn’t know how to feel about that, except, well… why hadn’t any of his parents tried this technology if it really existed? Could it be that they had… Jiyong did not want to think about it. He refused to acknowledge his parent’s abandonment. He knew his father said something about them having to die in order for him to survive, but he thought that it was not true. His father could be a lair; he lied about taking him to the amusement park the other day, so he could be lying about this too, right? Jiyong really hoped he was this time too.

‘Well, if it’s one hundred percent safe. I would like to try it out,’

‘Oh, it’s totally safe, I assure you. I’ll give you ten minutes and then I’ll pull you back. Be polite and ask for permission before you do anything; we don’t want to scare him away even more, eh? and uh.. try to get as much information as you can from him, we need to learn about his past. He can’t simply have no past at all! There must be a reason to why he was put into a permanent coma at such a young age.’

‘I’ll see what I can do, Doc,’

What? No! Jiyong wanted to scream. Treading on someone else’s turf without permission was like someone running an uninvited hand over your face; touching, probing and poking. This was beyond rude. Jiyong could barely stand these intruders; they were forcing parts of their impressions on his dreams, stomping inside his brain. This whole thing had gone beyond rude.

Jiyong heard a loud crash and then a screech inside his brain. “Ouch! What was that?” He said, and then gathered his white robe around his body before he’s gotten up slowly from underneath the tree. He looked around his garden and traced the flower-built fence. His eyes narrowed when he couldn’t see past that certain distance, and hesitantly Jiyong forced himself to inch a step closer. Never in all the years he has been living in here did he ever feel this scared to look beyond the expanse of his green grass. Something was definitely out of place. He could feel the presence of someone else. Someone was officially roaming around in his brain.

“Who is there?” Jiyong demanded.

Silence. Then sounds of footsteps started filling the place. Someone was roaming around in his mind, he was very sure of it now. Descending the stairs and checking closed doors. Jiyong did not appreciate the intruder’s behavior. The person could’ve just called his name and then maybe he would’ve came out to confer with them at his will. But did that person even know his name—they referred to him as case no.0138, so most likely he did not, Jiyong figured. He listened as the intruder continued to slam more doors, each time getting considerably closer to his garden before they turn around in the opposite direction. Jiyong was glad he had built such a maze in his mind, and was actually proud of how great it was. But the voices were still something he was not used to hear. They simply irked him, and he wanted to get rid of them—he wanted his silence back.

“Stop stomping around!” Jiyong shouted.

Silence enveloped him again for a long moment before, that tiny, sweet voice spoke once again in the gentle and caring tone Jiyong had come to like. ‘Little one, hey, this is Seungri. I’ve been watching over you for years. I’m the co-assistant to your doctor and I used to come over all the time; read you a book or just have a talk with you. Do you remember me?’ but, of course, he got no answer from Jiyong. As a matter of fact, Jiyong have never heard this man’s voice in his life. How could they even be friends if he’d never heard of him. ‘We’re actually friends, but you never told me your name—so I came to find out what it is.’

Jiyong was thinking hard about it. The stranger said they were friends, but Jiyong had never had friends before. His mother wouldn’t let him; she told him that people were dangerous, and Jiyong had always listened. This Seungri guy, however, sounded nothing but friendly. It made Jiyong think that it was almost impossible for this Seungri guy to bring him any harm. They were friends as the other said, and friends wouldn’t hurt each other—his mother was his friend; she had never hurt him before either.

‘Uhmm, Little one. Can you.. uhm, Can you come and get me, please? I’m lost, and I think there’s a hole down there, it’s kinda dragging me towards it. I also think it’s getting bigger—as if it wants to swallow me! Little one, please! Help!”

“Oh , not that hole!” Jiyong muttered, and then suddenly he was racing across his beautiful, peaceful garden. He really hoped he wouldn’t regret leaving his peaceful heaven—his mother told him to stay in it, for he was not exactly the only person walking around his brain, and Seungri just proved her theory to be right. He really was not even alone in his own brain. What kind of crappy world is this!    

[A/N]: Hello everyone, and welcome to my newest story—I still update the old ones though, so don't feel awkward. 

So, this was the first update. I hope you managed to settings of this story; outer world: some kind of hospital... inner world: obviously Jiyong's mind. Now I haven't written fantasy in such a long time, so feel free to leave critiques—you know how much I love you critics out there. Comments such update soon are just depressing to an author, trust me! Please keep your comments related to the story because I will update at any rate but I just need to know how I'm doing, your predictions, your comments, and all of this kind of fun comments, you know! /winks at you/ 

Looking forward to read your feedback. Have a good day, lovelies :)