I continue staring at where the man was pushed down a minute ago. This is strange. Very strange.

"Ummm..." I don't really know who I'm talking to, but it's better than standing there in shock. "Thank you... for saving me, I guess? I, um, yea."

Silence follows my words.

I take a step back, slowly backing out of the crime scene. Does this have to do with the weird things that have been happening to me?

Stopping, I raise my voice. "Can you at least show yourself to me?"

It's quiet for a moment, but then I hear a 'poof'. The person who saved me has his head down, so I can't see his face. He has a slim figure and has muscles in his arms. He walks a bit closer to me, head still down, and he has this sort of grace in his movements. Maybe he dances?

The boy slowly raises his head.

Oh. He's attractive.

"Wow, um, hi?" I bite my lip like I always do when I’m embarrassed. What am I saying? The boy smiles and laughs a bit. He holds up his right hand to awkwardly wave at me.

I tilt my head, "Can you talk?"

"Oh, yeah. Hi." he says after clearing his throat. His voice is soft, yet deep. I dont really know how to explain it, but it's nice.

"What's your name?"

There is a few seconds of silence and the boy looks like he’s having an argument with himself. "Guess." he commands, ending the silence with a tilted smile. It's somewhat hot, to be brutally honest.

But, what is he saying? Guess? Does this mean that I know him? I study his face more. I haven’t seen him around school or anything. I am almost about to give up, but something in the back of my mind tells me that I do know this person. His eyes and nose don't give me any hints, but his lips do. His pink, plump lips.

"Jongin?"

The name slips out of my mouth without thinking. He nods, his smile stretching across his face. My jaw drops. Excuse me, what?

"Listen, it's hard to explain.” Jongin sighs and I realize that I said my thoughts out loud. “Can we like... talk in your room? At home? It's getting late."

I want to say no. I know it’s bad to have someone you don’t even know come into your room, but he looks so much like the Jongin I knew—the Jongin that I, myself, made up in my mind. The only difference is that this Jongin is much older. I want to listen to his explanation, so I say yes after hesitating.

We walk together in silence. I sneak glances at him and he looks really happy. A bit too happy. Maybe he’s lying? Maybe he’s actually a ? But he literally materialized in the air in front of me, so I doubt it. Before I know it, I'm at the front door of my house. I grab the door handle, but stop. What would my parents think of me bringing a boy home?

"Go in. Trust me, they won't see me."

His breath is on my neck and I shiver. He backs away from my ear and I twist the door open, holding my breath. I step in, Jongin behind me, and my mom sees me. I freeze on spot, still worried about if she sees Jongin or not.

Jongin, unlike me, keeps walking up to my room. I open my mouth to say something to them, but I remember that my mom is still here.

"Hi, mom." I smile at her. She asks me if I had fun and I reply with a quick yes. Once the conversation is over, I run to my room. Jongin is laying in my bed, both hands under his head.

I eye the boy and sit in the chair by the desk, crossing my arms, "Please explain."

"I don't know where to start..." Jongin tilts his head cutely, eyes looking at the glow-in-the-dark stars on my ceiling. "People create in their minds what they call 'Imaginary Friends' at a young age. They stop seeing them once they stop believing that they're real. So, when you stopped believing in me, you created a barrier between yourself and the whole Imaginary world."

"So, when I asked you to show yourself to me, that counted as me believing in you."

"Basically. Plus, since you made me, you're my master. Whatever you tell me to do, I have to do it." The ends of Jongin's lips curl up. "Any questions?"

I do have a lot of questions, but most of them are caught in my throat. Everything in my mind is so jumbled up that it's hard to even think.

"So... are you the one who keeps my pencils from falling? The one who closed the silverware drawer this morning? And the whole thing with the Starbucks and the trash can?" I ask the obvious questions. Jongin nods with bright eyes. He looks so happy now that I believe in him again.

Does this mean he's been around me all this time and I haven't noticed?

"Well... okay then." I really don't know what to say. I just want to not think for a bit. "If you don't mind, I want to sleep. Can we continue this conversation tomorrow?"

Jongin nods. I hope he understands that this is very overwhelming and I just need time to let everything sink in. The boy gets up from my bed and gestures me towards it. I skip brushing my teeth—I'm too lazy to walk to the bathroom—and I lay in my bed.

I notice Jongin standing in the corner of my room, watching me. "Aren't you going to sleep?"

His eyes slightly widen as if he's asking what I just said. I think he's not used to me talking to him, since I haven't done so in about 10 years. "Yeah... I just... goodnight."

"Wait! Where do you even sleep?" I question. He's usually around me, isn't he? Does he like, sleep on my floor or something?

He smirks—he freaking smirks—and nods his head towards my closet. I look at him with questioning eyes and get up from my bed. I open my closet door, and Jongin separates my clothes from the middle. He walks in the closet and instead of walking into the wall and hitting his head on it, he goes through it.

I stand there with my mouth hanging open.

A hand pops out of the wall and I take it. I feel myself being pulled to the wall and I instantly shut my eyes, anticipating the collision. Instead of hitting my body against the wall, I feel carpet under my bare feet.

Opening my eyes, I stand still in awe. I'm in a bedroom. The walls are painted light gray, but one of them is black. On the single black wall, there are random drawings created from chalk. On the side opposite to that, there is a queen bed with white sheets and gray pillows, and a desk beside it.

Jongin stretches his arms and opens a drawer. My eyes widen as he grabs the fabric from the back of his shirt and swiftly pulls the clothing piece over his head and off his body. He throws it across his room and into a laundry basket, successfully making the shot. I bite my lip as my eyes gaze over his chest and down to his stomach.

Abs. He has freaking chocolate abs and I’m so angry at myself because I somehow cannot look away.

Unfortunately for me, Jongin grabs a gray v-neck from his drawer and quickly slides it on his body. I let out a breath that I didn’t know I was holding in, then I hear him chuckle.

He knows I’ve been staring at him.

The boy suddenly grabs his belt buckle and I immediately come back to my senses. “Okay. I just… yea, nice room. Well, I’m gonna go. And, um, goodnight Jongin.”

I walk towards the wall that I came through and before I go back to my room, I look back.

Jongin smiles gently and whispers, “Goodnight.”

That last thing I hear from his is genuine laughter.
 

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