“Honey, let’s go visit grandma."

I hum in reply, eyes not leaving the glow-in-the-dark stars stuck to my ceiling. I hear a sigh, then the door closes.

It’s been a week since prom.

I spent the entire spring break in my room.

The break was definitely boring. I did homework every day (my history teacher just can’t give me a break, can she?)  and even studied for my AP tests that were in two months. I even cleaned my room not once, not twice, but three times. I rearranged my closet by color, read a few John Green books, and slept. A lot.

For the first few days, Jaekyung texted me and asked if I was alright. She must have been confused after I fled prom like that, but I didn’t want to talk about it. I didn’t answer any of her texts, and she stopped bothering me after three days.

My parents also noticed that there was something wrong with me, but I acted like I was fine, like I always do. I didn’t want them to worry about something that might not even be real.

During the break, I often woke up with wet cheeks. It’s no surprise. I was devastated. I still am.

Somehow, I’ve been blocked off from the Imaginary world. I can’t walk to Jongin’s room anymore. I can’t call him and make him show up. I tried walking through that wall he showed me when I met the rest of EXO. I bruised my forehead afterwards.

I unwillingly get up from my bed to change out of my pajamas into something more suitable. A few days ago, my grandmother was admitted to the hospital. Her health is decreasing.

My body has been on autopilot since the day Jongin disappeared. So when I see my grandmother’s weak smile in what seems like seconds later, I’m not surprised. Her skin has gotten paler since the last time I saw her, but the sparkle in her eyes has not dimmed down just yet.

“How are you feeling, grandma?” I ask, sitting in the chair by her bed.

“Much better now that you’re here.” my grandma replies as she takes my hand and squeezes it. Her hands still have that warmth in them.

I zone out as my parents talk to her, only catching a few random words every now and then. I observe my palms, tracing the lines formed across them over and over again. They’re cold.

Time flies by and a nurse drives us out to let my grandmother rest. Before I leave, give her a hug. “Are you gonna be okay by yourself?”

She replies with her usual bright smile. “I’m not alone. There will always be someone watching over us.”

The sentence is stuck in my head as we are driving home. It repeats over and over again, but I don’t try to erase it from my mind.

There will always be someone watching over us.

There will always be someone watching over us.

There will always be someone watching over us.

If Imaginary Friends were real, I wouldn’t be the only one who had one.

I think of Jaekyung and Luhan.

“Ok, repeat that? So, you never actually went to prom with Daehyun? You went with some dude named Jongin, which apparently is your Imaginary Friend?” Jaekyung’s face contorts in a confused face. I don’t blame her, seeing how I was super confused when I first met Jongin.

“Basically, I want to prove to myself that I’m not crazy, so I want you to tell your Imaginary Friend Luhan to come.”

Jaekyung looks at me with ridiculous face, which contrasts with my serious one. I don’t care if she thinks I’m on something, I just need to know.

“How do you know if Luhan will come or not?” she asks with eyebrows raised. The question surprises me, since she didn’t seem to be buying my story a few seconds ago. I recall the rules of the Imaginaries that Jongin told me when I first met him. “Imaginaries have to follow every command of their human counterpart.”

“So if I just say, ‘Ayo, Luhan. Get yo up here,’ then he has no choice but to comply?”

“Yes, but also, most Imaginaries tend to hate their Human for forgetting them.” I warn my best friend. She shrugs, “If this is actually real, Luhan has every reason to hate me.”

Jongin had every reason to hate me, but he didn’t, I think in my mind. “So you up for it?”

Jaekyung nods, sighing a bit before opening , “Ayo, Luhan. Get yo up here.”

A minute passes, nothing happens.

Five minutes pass, nothing happens.

“Sorry, but whatever drug you’re on, you need to sto-” Jaekyung is interrupted by a loud crash coming from her closet, followed by a trail of angry mumbling. I jump up from her bed and practically fly to open her closet doors.

Luhan walks through the walls of her closet holding his back in pain and muttering profanities under his breath. He’s too busy with himself to watch where he’s going and bumps into me. His head springs upwards and he locks eyes with me. I almost piss myself at how round his eyes got when he realizes who I am, but I hold in my laughter. “Nice to see you.”

“What? Aren’t you Jongin’s friend? What are you doing in Jae’s…” his voice trails off when he notices another person in the room. Jaekyung is gaping at Luhan, eyes wide and mouth wide open.

“Holy .”

I make my way to my best friend and rub her back in a consoling manner. “I know, I know.”

“You’re ting me right now.” Jaekyung hasn’t looked away from Luhan yet, and I can tell that the Imaginary was getting a little uncomfortable by the intense stare. He coughs awkwardly. I notice the slight war that Luhan is having with himself. Part of him wants to talk to Jaekyung like he normally did, but part of him hates her because she stopped believing in him.

“Why did you call me?” Luhan speaks up in a monotone voice. I begin to tell him the whole story: that I’m Jongin’s human counterpart, he disappeared a week ago, and I want to get him back.

The Imaginary listens to me intently, sneaking glances of Jaekyung every once in awhile. Jaekyung does the same, and it literally kills me to watch the two of them. It’s like watching two nerdy preteens who are dying to have a discussion about the new episode of Naruto that premiered the night before.

“No wonder Jongin has been acting weird lately…” Luhan mumbles to himself, and I feel my heart squeeze in my chest. I don’t want to think about how Jongin’s week has probably been as painful as mine. “Do you think you can talk to him about it? Find out what happened?”

“I’ve talked to him already, but all he said is that he made a deal with the Creator. Kyungsoo’s heard him talking in his sleep about leaving his human alone or something. I never would have thought that person was you. I should have known.”

I hum, my mind racing with thoughts. “Is there any way I could talk to the Creator?”

“I’m not one hundred percent sure, but I think if you do a good deed for the Imaginaries, he’ll come and thank you personally.” Luhan rubs the back of his neck in thought. “Don’t know what kind of good thing you’ll be able to do, though.

Jaekyung speaks after what feels like an eternity, “What if we make Humans believe in Imaginaries? It would be beneficial to Humans to have someone by their side, and the Imaginaries would be able fulfill their original purpose.”

Luhan snaps, “Are you saying that Imaginaries are useless without their Humans?”

“No! What I meant to say was,” Jaekyung resorts to a guilty whisper. “Imaginaries won’t have to be alone anymore.”

It is dead silent for a minute or so. The indirect apology that Jaekyung voiced out to Luhan was successfully taken, seeing how the boy slightly smiled. “If Humans started believing in Imaginaries, our worlds would have to merge.”

“I don’t really think that’s a bad thing. It’s not like we’d have to build houses for you guys. You live in our closets! You can walk through walls and !” Jaekyung waves her hands around, emphasizing how extravagant the Imaginary world is.

“But let’s think about the consequences. Criminals can force their Imaginary Friends to side with them. Double the trouble.” I groan, letting myself fall onto the couch next to the closet.

“That’s true, but more police force, more FBI agents, etc.” Luhan plops himself on the floor, sitting Indian style. “The only problem now is the second rule.”

The second rule.

I faintly remember Jongin listing out the rules that every Imaginary has to follow.

1. Always obey your master.

2. Relationships between Human and Imaginary is strictly forbidden.

Jongin and I broke the second rule. That must be why he disappeared. This is our punishment.

“Relationships would be inevitable. You can’t control who you love.” I start slowly, my mind still trying to connect the dots. “Do you think I’ll be able to get the Creator to abolish this rule?”

“If we’re successful, then yes.”