Subject No.1: Kim Himchan

They always said that I’m an easy target. I guess they were right. I was desperate. Desperate for love. Since young, they called me names, making fun of my weight. They said they I would never get laid, never be loved for who I am because in this current century, looks & appearance is everything. Money is everything. I worked this to become who I am today; this face, this body was exchanged with blood & sweat.

With this new face, new pair of eyes, slender body, I started to attract the opposite . I had the ual appeal, the selling point; everything became easy. Women started coming to me. I didn’t have to deal with the pain of rejections; my entire life turned around. I didn’t think too much, I just wanted to be loved but I am not an easy man. I wanted true love, genuine love.

I was certain that she was the one for me. She is the first person I see when I open my eyes, the first person who held my hands & told me it’ll all be alright. But right now, I don’t know when I’ll see her again & it kills me to know that she might not be coming back.

They say that humans are cheap; we love the ones that doesn’t love us back, yet we neglect & reject those that truly offer their love to us. Perhaps, it is true because I’m just a man, who’s in love but never been loved.

Subject No. 2: Moon Jongup

She welcomed me with the brightest smile. I’ve never seen someone as beautiful as her. She had a face of the crowd but her smile was just mesmerizing. I find myself returning for consultations just to see her instead of getting my problem fixed.

Unknowingly, I smiled for the first time in years after meeting her, I felt as though I could comfortable be myself again. She said she needed help. They need subjects for a new clinical trial & without hesitation, I committed myself into some experiment not even knowing what it was tested for.

I guess the drug was called Love; Artificial Love. They feed you with feelings that you can’t control & removed them from your system later on. Bombarding you with emotions, making you yearn for more; carve for the feelings you once held, you once felt. They said the pain caused is called withdrawal symptom. So tell me now, how can I pull myself out of this drug addiction called Love when they keep feeding you again & again when you try to forget how it feels like to be in love?

Patient No. 3: Choi Junhong

Just a typical High School student who’s been oppressed since young. I was the only child; no siblings, no friends. Only books & stack of assessment books, text books, past year papers to prepare me for my adult life. Education & Success was everything, or at least that was what my parents & society had knocked hard into my head.

Seeing my classmates having fun, going on dates, enjoying their youth made me realized how pathetic I am; walking a road paved by my parents, living a rigid & repetitive life. It wasn’t to anyone’s surprise when I diagnosed with depression. I wasn’t happy in life. I needed an escape. I needed love & care from the people around me. It doesn’t matter if you’re a stranger, a classmate, an animal; I just wanted to be comforted, to be treated like a human, a child with a loving parent at this age not a programmed robot.

I needed to get a life & I found the alternative life in this experiment. I found my solution, my comfort, my fortress; I have Noona now. I’m not going back home anymore. This is home.

Subject No. 4: Bang Yongguk

My name is Bang Yongguk. I’m simple guy with a big heart & a hot temper. Many a times, I find myself taken for granted by the people around me. I have a soft spot to help those in need, especially the less fortunate ones but no one around me seems to understand me or maybe they know me too well. I know that my hot blooded personality has gotten me into dip time & time again. Getting scammed, cheated off my money. Even women cheats me off my feelings, pretending to love me but only to be caught sleeping in the bed opposite mine; my twin brother’s bed. They say it was a mistake, they couldn’t tell us apart; LIES. I wouldn’t be this dumb to buy that bull but I was wrong.

Look where I am now? Stuck in this place, this experiment. You offered me a place in this experiment saying that it would help me find myself but instead, you just took my kindness as my weakness & used it against me, knowing that I’ll forgive you eventually; but still, I helped you.

Subject No. 5: Jung Daehyun

Bulimia Nersova, is an eating disorder I’ve been diagnosed with. Caught in a dilemma all the time, I can’t decide if I want to indulge myself in gourmet food or to go on a strict diet to maintain my physique & looks. So I decided to take the extreme measure; eat first & deal with it later. I don’t believe what I do is a problem or even a disorder; at least, I get a taste of it before I end up in the other bowl. I’m nowhere at the losing end, I have the best of both worlds but the world don’t see me the same as I do.

She told me that taking part in this experiment would help curb my eat-and-purge habits without having to starve myself. The thought of having to eat & not gain weight appealed to me. But what appeals to me more, was the lady herself. The way she speaks, the way she eats & prepares our meals. She was no doubt the angel of our ward.

They say that love changes everything, it really does. Now that she’s gone, I can’t even eat anymore.

Subject No. 6: Yoo Youngjae

PhD in Neuroscience & Psychology, I created this experiment to test the limits of the human mind. To study the brain activity based of stimulations on what the mind actually desires & the difference in activity when placed off at an unwanted reality. You feed the subjects with what they want, what they crave for, what they truly desire & you remove them later on to observe their changes, their adaptability. Under stressed or forced conditions, one is to make changes to survive, that is just how reality works. It’s always the survival of the fitness, a constant competition.

With artificial stimulations and situations, the concept or methods to deal with pain & suffering could be imprinted in their minds to shape them better for future happenings. We try to prepare individuals in the worst case scenarios based on experience they gain in this experiment.

The most easily influenced yet most painful part in body is our heart. We say we feel with our heart, we suffer from heart breaks, heartaches but yet over & over again, we allow people to come into ours hearts & step all over them when they leave. Not literally meaning the organ, heart, but the heart of our minds where our emotions & feelings flow; the controlled & uncontrolled. We can only train our minds to be stronger but we can never train our hearts.

As the Creator of this Experiment, I’ve no idea how I’ve ended up here. I know that I’m awake but I’m not fully awake. We all know better why the 6 of us ended up here. For the same reason; Love.

This isn’t love, this is a stimulation program. We’ve all been intoxicated by female pheromone circulating in this facility. Keep your mind clear, remember this is a dream, this isn’t reality.

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‘Welcome to the world of Lucid Dreaming, where dreams are built based on reality.’ She said. ‘Your Training starts now.’

No one knows how long this training will go on for. No one know where they are. Moments ago, they were in their individual wards fed by their Nurse. The Nurse they were all attracted to; the one emitting the pheromones. The next thing they knew, the ceiling was spinning, her voice was echoing, ‘It’s okay, it’s going to be okay.’ She rest assured as she pushes the springe to the end. A sudden gush of fluids rushing vigorously into their bloodstream causes their arm to twitch for a couple of seconds before their body loosens & goes into paralysis. Sleep paralysis, they said. They felt their bodies slouch into the mattress like a dead weight, pupils dilated as they drift into their own fantasies.

She brushes their hair gently, combing them with her fingers before she slips the wired helmets onto their heads. ‘I’ll be with you shortly. Don’t worry.’ The last thing they felt was her hand in theirs & they were transported into another place, another building; another dimension.

In every single room they were transported into, she existed in the way they imagined her to be. The way her hair was tied up, the way she dresses, the way she smells. Fantasy turned into reality.

‘How’s the experiment going?’ Youngjae asked his Nurse who laid on the surgical arm chair equipped with her headgear.

‘It’s all going as planned, I’ve created a map of the castle that I’ve built in Year 1. Just like that one I showed you in my portfolio. The boys are now in the castle & stimulation will start once you give me the instructions to.’ She replied with a smile.

Youngjae held her hands tightly, patting them. He knew that he had made the right choice to hire her as his Research Nurse from the moment she walked in with her impressive portfolio, all the way to her recruitment abilities to make this experiment successful. He couldn’t have done so without her, he simply smiled at her good news.

‘Start the stimulations whenever you like, it’s now your game. I’ve faith in you.’ Youngjae instructed & went back to his seat to observe their behaviour on this monitor.

‘The game has only just begun.’ She smiles as she fires the first stimulation into the back of their heads.