Chapter Two: Dream!

Is a plane of mental existence where people are able to communicate with one another by their thoughts alone.

Frogs croaked everywhere once Jiyong reached the front fence of his garden—they all croaked together as if sensing danger. He leaned back against the trunk of the last big, scratchy tree standing tall and curvy to shield the tiny gate within the fence, and gave it a final thought; should I go? Should I not? In the end, he decided to go and find the voice that called him a friend and who it belonged to. He was curious, excited, and definitely scared, but he couldn’t help it, he wanted to know who this is, and what he looked like. Jiyong hadn’t seen people in such a long time; he had only seen his parents, and even then, he didn’t get a good, final look at them, so he couldn’t quite remember what they looked like anymore.

“Little one!” the voice was fading. Jiyong wanted to shout back, but he couldn’t. He had only used his voice in the first couple of months into his coma, but soon he learned that it was all a waste if you have no one to talk to, and it kind of stopped from there.

His mouth opened as he tried to yell back, but his voice was so weak that it came out as a choked squeak. “This won’t do. I have to find him first,” Jiyong exclaimed as he unlocked the chain locket on the fence and started walking into the mist.

It was cold outside. The porcelain underneath his bare feet sent violent shocks to his entire body. Jiyong let out a troubled, shivering breath and then hugged the white robe closer to his body. It was sheer silk, and it did absolutely nothing to add any warmth; if anything, it actually made him feel colder. “Hello!” he yelled into the direction where the mist is most thickened. His second attempt was considerably louder, but Jiyong had no way of knowing how far his sound traveled. It was, definitely, not enough to send back an echo, so Jiyong went on and on, building his voice to audibility while repeating the word “hello” a number of times, until one time, it clicked.

“Little one!” the voice he came to know belonged to his friend, said with so much excitement. Jiyong was taken aback by the loudliness and the cheerfulness in the voice, and was actually scared of it that he took three steps back and prepared for a run. Foreign sounds were clanking on the porcelain, frightening Jiyong even more; his breath hitched and then caught up in his throat. He can feel something approaching him. He didn’t know what it was, but it surely must’ve been a lot larger than he is. He turned around quickly in attempt to find his way back to the garden, but it was all mist in mist, he could not make up which passage he had came from, and that terrified him to no end.

His tears welled up in his eyes upon realizing that he was lost—lost again, like the time when his parents ran away from him at the park; Jiyong did not move from his spot as he was told, but the growing feeling of fright and loneliness was too much for him to take and he couldn’t have pushed the tears and wails away, even if he wanted to. Even now, it was equally as hard; he was lost, but he knew his parents wouldn’t come find him anymore. They never did! Even if he stayed in his garden as he was told to. And now he was out, and there was no way they would find him now.

Like that Jiyong started crying—just like the five years old he was, ten-so years ago. He just couldn’t do it. He couldn’t control his condition. Whenever he felt sad, he would wail with an open mouth. He would cry soundly in hopes that his parents would come and find him that way, because if he stayed quiet… he couldn’t even imagine it because he hadn’t—he hadn’t stayed quiet and that is why his parents had found him at the park, the other day. But who would find him now. Maybe it’s the monster they have warned him about……Jiyong’s cries became longer. His wail would truly extend until he was out of oxygen and gasping for short breaths of air before he resumed . He fell to the ground because his knees couldn’t carry him anymore. He wanted back! He wanted to go back so bad, and he now knew that he shouldn’t have left his garden. It was such a bad move! It was such a badbad move, now he knew...

But what could he do now. He’s already lost!

Seungri’s anxiety rose as he traveled up and down some elevators. He couldn’t believe just how complicated this structure was; it was professionally done to send any intruders into madness before they’ve found their target. Seungri doubted he would ever find the man with the beautiful face here. A while ago, he was a hundred percent certain he had heard his thick voice call out for him. But as soon as he turned to follow the voice, he immediately crashed into a brick wall. It was so thick and it seemed to be getting thicker the more Seungri pressed into it or tried to push it. It had gotten so thick that it had swallowed the small whimpers and wails that Seungri managed to catch before it all had faded away, completely.

Now he had to make his way around the wall, and it wasn’t the easiest task to do, but he did it anyway. With one hand on the wall, he kept tracing it as he walked. He was too scared to run because he did not want to fall into a second black hole, so he was careful and had his eyes on the floor the entire time. But the wall too… it seemed to go on to no end. Seungri sighed and rested against it. “What the hell is this? It’s like a ing maze.”

He looked at his watch, and his ten minutes were almost up. “Little one, I’ll come find you once I know how to get to you,” he muttered apologetically, but there was nothing he could do anymore. He’d have to come back again later, perhaps when he’d found a way or made a map. He closed his eyes and planned to rest while he waited for the remaining time to pass by, since there wasn’t much. He thought he’d use up the few seconds he have left, to find better plan to reach the beautiful young man. 

Seungri woke up, fluttering his eyes a couple of times. It was nearly a minute before his mind started accepting that his brain was locked right back into his body, and that he was back to real world. Dream land had felt so real, Seungri had to admit, whizzing out a breath of amusement. “You’re awake,” the elder Dr. Daniel Armand Lee, gave him an acknowledging nod from above his notepad, but never raised his nose high enough from the pad, where Seungri could actually see, as he was busy with medical scribbles.

“Have you found him?” he paused for a second only to see Seungri shaking his head and then resumed with his writing.

“What are you writing?” Seungri asked when he saw how fast the doctor’s hand had been moving. His face was focused and glistening with sweat. Seungri noted that his doctor hadn’t even had time to tap dry the sweat on his forehead, which sent an immediate panic wave through him. “What’s going on?” He got up from his bed and slowly made his way to his elder colleague.

“Come with me,” the doctor said in hurry as he unbent his back and straightened his posture. Soon he was rushing across the room without even looking to see if Seungri had followed.

Seungri’s curiosity was growing as he followed the elder into the adjacent room. A woman sat into a chair next to the patient’s now large bed. He noticed that they have changed case no.0138’s room, but why, that question remained unanswered. The woman glanced up and smiled when they walked in. “He likes slow sax music,” the woman said as she stood. “It had helped calming him down. He should be fine after you shoot him this injection, doctor.” She handed the elder a needle and then excused herself, and Seungri bowed to her in respect before he exited the room.

“Come closer, Seungri. I want you to look at this.”

Seungri’s jaw loosened as shock drew upon him after taking one good look at the patient. The doctor started explaining right away. “He was very fitful three minutes after you were in. The nurse called me in and told me to hurry… I have never seen such a thing in my life. There was some ruffling noises coming from underneath the blankets on the bed, and when I removed it, I saw that he was clawing at the mattress—he actually popped holes into it with his long nails. I’ve—” the doctor lost his voice in frightened excitement. It took him a moment to digest the things he had just said, and then he breathed, “people in coma are not capable of moving a muscle. They are not sleeping the way normal people do; they’re, actually, technically dead. Therefore, there shouldn’t be any thrashing and moving, but this… look at this. He has rotated around himself a full ninety degree in. his. coma. Can you believe this, Seungri? Gosh!”

Of course Seungri could not believe any of it, but it was all displayed in front of his eyes so he had to.

He swallowed thickly and watched as the nurses’ rearranged case no.0138’s almost lifeless body onto bed so that he was no longer sleeping in a twisted, snail-like position. The blanket was thrown back onto the young man, and as things should’ve stayed from the start, there was barely even a ripple in the blanket—the patient did not move; could not move as it should’ve been, but Seungri remembered that it was not the case anymore. Jiyong did move, and that was that.

He watched in absolute quietness,and could not stop thinking of what could’ve happened that has had this kid turning and twisting whilst it’s not of his capabilities. Could it be all because of him! Could he be waking up? Is there any hope to bring this kid back? Seungri couldn’t stop thinking.

“What could’ve possibly happened?” Seungri’s breath was shuddering. He didn’t realize that he had actually voiced a question until he’s got a response from the doctor. “I don’t know—I really, really, don’t; I’m sorry. All I know it that his heart was beating rapidly; I think he was experiencing an unsettling situation which led him to twist in his sleep. See people in coma do not move at all! But this case right here, just turned the onto his side, and then rotated ninety degrees. How on earth did he do that! I have no ing clue. And now his heart is beating so faintly, I think he might be exhausted. Have you heard any crying or screaming while you were there?”

Seungri shook his head with a defeated frown, he then said, “Could it be that, because of me? I mean, could it be that… he was trying to run away from me, and the motion and effort he was doing inside his mind, maybe, actually, resulted into him shifting like that?”

“While this is a legit interpretation, I cannot assure you for sure. Especially that you say you have not found him. I think there is more to the story than just your presence—we have tried this method with other patients within our institution and there was no such thing as this—not even a single motion; not a blink even.” The doctor sighed and then was quiet for a moment. “There is something that is scaring this youngman for his life. Something that maybe… lives inside his brain.”

“That’s why they’ve built him a maze! Oh , what if he’s captured by whatever it is that haunts him?” Seungri interrupted.

“I don’t know Seungri. There are so many things I don’t know about this young one. I just hope we hadn’t done a great mistake by sending you into his head. Heck, I don’t even know if this guy will find peace inside his mind again, and it really bothers me to see his face all scrunched up like that. Look at him, he’s no longer peaceful, and I hate to tell you that it’s our fault he is like that.”

Seungri’s heart swelled as he made his way to the patient. The elder doctor pulled the nurses out of the way as Seungri stepped closer to the bed. Seungri spotted a tuft of dark blonde hair sticking out of the top of the blankets; his hair was longer than a shoulder’s length. He moved closer and grabbed the edge of the blanket, pulling it down a bit and tucking it under his chin.

“This child…” Seungri trailed off sadly, but the doctor interrupted, “I assure you, Seungri, he’s off legal age. He celebrated his twentieth birthday this year. “But he looks like a child still,” Seungri whispered as he turned back to look at the young man sleeping in the bed. “Hell, he even looks like a girl. Is he even from this world? I have never seen a man with such smooth skin, and long hair. He can’t be from this world, can he, elder Lee? He looks so foreign to us humans, I cannot accept that he’s one of us.”

Doctor Lee was in deep thought for a moment; he then walked over to the bed and stared at Jiyong’s face. “I agree, he has such delicate features that he does look like a girl. He has high, exotic cheekbones gracing his finely curved face. He has long, dark eyelashes, which do not match the color of his naturally blonde hair or brows, lying against his porcelain cheeks. He also has generously curved lips, so puffy and big, and it’s not sleep-caused. His nose is straight, short, and charming. And a wealth of blonde subtle hair framing the edges of his jaw. Not one thing marred him.” He sighed and then looked up at Seungri, “This man is an ethereal beauty. Nothing I see in him is earthily.”

Doctor Lee straightened his posture and motioned Seungri to follow him out. “Where are we going?” asked Seungri as he rushed behind his elder.

“Maybe it’s time to hit the archive. We need to find answers to all of our questions. The Librarian there must know something, I’m sure.”

[A/N]: Hello, how have you been, and how do you like this chapter? ... So tell me, is this story confusing you yet? How old do you think Jiyong really is on the inside and out? Is he really an exotic, or is it Seungri and his doctor who are? And what’s gonna happen next, now that Jiyong is finally out of his safehouse? Will Seungri make the mistake of going in again, or will he take pity in Jiyong and just watch him from afar?

Oh and btw, Dr. Lee is Tablo from Epik-high; his real name is Daniel Armand Lee.

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