Kyungsoo snuggles down farther into his bed.  He knows that it’s about time he gets up; if he sleeps any more, he’s going to be late for school, but his brain is foggy with sleep and the thought of getting up is repulsive.  The crisp linen of his sheets feels cool against his skin, and the pillow beneath his head makes him feel as if he’s lying on a cloud.

          With one last long, drawn out yawn and a stretch, Kyungsoo opens his eyes.

          “Motherer!” He yells out, waking Tao from his own nap.

          “What? What is it, what’s wrong?” Tao questions, blearily looking around the sunlit room for signs of danger.

          “You’ve got to be ing kidding me!”

          “What is the issue?”  Tao questions, reaching for Kyungsoo’s wrist to check his pulse.

          “This can’t be real.  I thought for sure that it was all some hideous nightmare and that when I woke up, I’d be back in my bed and late for school.”

          “I do not understand,” Tao begins, releasing his wrist after satisfying himself that Kyungsoo’s health is not in jeopardy.  “I thought that we discussed this satisfactorily yesterday.  Did we not come to the conclusion that you were sent from your world to ours?”

          “Yeah, but I just went along with it because I thought this was some sick dream.  I didn’t actually believe all that nonsense you were spewing!  How the hell am I supposed to believe that I’m in another freaking world!  Jesus Christ, I mean, like this doesn’t happen.  Not in real life anyway.”  Kyungsoo stands up from his bed, slipping his feet into his shoes and shooting off into the hallway before Tao even realizes what is happening.

          As soon as he does, he too stands and pursues Kyungsoo, shouting “Kyungsoo, wait! Let us discuss this!”

          “It was nice knowin’ ya, Tao, but please off!” Kyungsoo cries over his shoulder as he picks up the pace so that he is now running in a dead sprint down the hall.

          “Kyungsoo, look out – “ but Tao’s warning is cut off when Kyungsoo barrels head first into an extremely large and immobile Yi Fan.

          “…” Kyungsoo trails off, rubbing his poor abused head from his spot on the floor.

          “In a rush?” Yi Fan’s deep voice rumbles off, a note of sarcasm more than present in his question.

          “Goddammit…” Kyungsoo rights himself, swaying slightly.  Not to be put off from his quest, Kyungsoo begins stumbling forward once more, though the spinning hallway does not help him anyway.

          “Can someone please turn off the room, it’s making me dizzy,” he mumbles out as he begins his downward descent to the floor once more.

          Before his face can make impact with the unforgiving stone, a warm hand wraps itself around his bicep, pulling him upright once again.  Kyungsoo tries to shrug the restraining hand off of him, but is instead pulled against a solid chest.

          “You are not going anywhere,” and Kyungsoo can feel the rumble in Yi Fan’s chest as he says it.

          “I want to go home, let me go home,” Kyungsoo’s voice is weak.  The world hasn’t stopped spinning, his head is throbbing painfully, and he doesn’t even remember the last time that he ate.

          Tao takes Kyungsoo from Yi Fan, pulling his small body into his own and wrapping a steadying arm around his shoulders.  The kind action sets Kyungsoo off, and he is once again crying in front of strangers.

          “Sh, Kyungsoo, it’s okay.”

          “No it’s not!” he yells through his tears, trying to push Tao away from himself, to no success.

          “You don’t understand, I just want to go home! Why can’t I go home!? Please just let me go!” But despite his words, Kyungsoo turns himself in towards Tao, crying hard onto his shoulder. “Please…”

          Tao is at a loss as to what he should do.  He is no good at giving comfort, only at giving advice, but he knows that that is not what Kyungsoo needs at the moment.

          “Hush now, Kyungsoo,” he begins awkwardly, tentatively placing a hand on Kyungsoo’s back.  “We’ll find a way to get you back, will we not, Yi Fan?”

          “Oh, yeah, sure…” Yi Fan adds unconvincingly.  “I’ll, uh, put all of my best men on it.”

          “See? It’ll be okay. You have to lay down now Kyungsoo, your head will never heal at the rate you’ve been flinging it about.”

          Kyungsoo does not respond, but allows Tao to lead him back to the infirmary nonetheless.

          “Yi Fan, will you please see to it that food is brought to Kyungsoo?” Tao does not wait for a response as he carefully leads Kyungsoo back to his room.

          When they enter, Tao helps Kyungsoo to sit in a straight-backed armchair that had most recently been occupied by Yi Fan prior to Kyungsoo’s nap.  Tao hands a handkerchief to Kyungsoo to wipe his tears before resuming his place on the chair across from him, waiting patiently for Kyungsoo’s tears to dry.

          As Kyungsoo finishes crying himself out, he is struck by a feeling of embarrassment for showing so much weakness in front of these people he does not know.  “Sorry,” Kyungsoo begins, looking down at his hands where he is picking apart his cuticles in anxiety, “I don’t usually cry this much, I don’t know what’s come over me.”  He laughs nervously.

          “Kyungsoo, I will do what I can to find you a way back home, but I cannot guarantee how long that will take.  You will have to remain here while I do so.”

          “Thanks, I’m fine, don’t worry about it,” he responds weakly.

          “I do not believe your words, but I will allow them.  Will you be okay here alone? I think it best I begin research right away.  Food will be brought to you shortly, please make sure to eat it, you must regain your strength.”

          “Thank you, Tao,” Kyungsoo says sincerely, looking up to see his face.  “I really don’t want to be trapped in your ty world that is presumably lacking indoor plumbing, but it is no use crying about it.” And as he speaks, his voice regains a little bit of its former strength and habitual snark.

          Tao simply gives him a tight smile, clasping his hand reassuringly on Kyungsoo’s shoulder before departing.  

          Left alone, Kyungsoo allows himself to sink into his own thoughts.  He is scared, that much is certain.  He is not sure whether he really believes that he has been transported into a different world, but the alternative that he’s being held prisoner by a bunch of whack-jobs is equally terrifying, maybe even more so.

          Or maybe neither of those two things is true and he’s just going crazy.  The pressures of being a high school senior with a position in every honor’s society and a spot in every AP class might have at last pushed him off the deep end, and this world he has envisioned is just his escape.

          But if that’s the case, why didn’t he imagine himself in some place a little more cheery and a little less physically painful?

          Sighing, chest filled with anxiety, fear, apprehension, confusion, and a whole slew of other negative emotions, Kyungsoo is interrupted from his thoughts by the smell of food filling the room.

          Opening his eyes and looking up, Kyungsoo is struck by the sight of a boy no older than himself carrying a tray of food.  The boy has curly black hair and an extremely bright smile that highlights the singular dimple on his right cheek.

          “Hello, I’m Yixing, I hear you’re from a different planet.  Is that right? That’s so cool!” Kyungsoo knows he should be irritated by the boy taking pleasure in his misfortune, but for some inexplicable reason, he feels some of the tension melt off of his shoulders and a tentative smile finds itself a home on his face.

          “Yeah, I’m supposedly from a different world, though I’m not too sure I actually believe it,” Kyungsoo’s stomach growls as he finishes his sentence and his smile turns to a look of embarrassment.

          “Oh! You must be hungry. Here, I brought you some porridge!” Yixing enthusiastically sets up the tray in front of the hungry Kyungsoo before pulling up Tao’s chair and taking a seat across from him.

          As Kyungsoo eats his porridge, Yixing simply continues to sit and stare at him with a bright smile plastered onto his face.  As soon as Kyungsoo takes the last bite of his food, stomach comfortably full and head a whole lot less dizzy, Yixing once again begins his chipper line of questioning.

          “What’s your world like? Why are you dressed like that? Does everybody have hair as red as yours? Why is it shaved down the sides?  Are everybody’s eyes as big as yours? Why are you so short? Do you like to ride horses?  What kind of weapon do you typically carry?  Do you like to read?”

          Kyungsoo is unable to find a space between questions to answer Yixing, but before he has a chance to grow frustrated, Yi Fan’s imperious voice interrupts him.

          “XingXing, leave the interrogation to me.”

          “But I want to know too,” ‘XingXing’ pouts cutely up at the scary looking Yi Fan.  Kyungsoo notes with interest the way the taller man’s face softens as he reaches out to ruffle the curly hair of the talkative boy.

          “Leave now, I will speak with you later.  In the meantime, our guest is to remain a secret, at least until father decides what we are to do with him.”

          “Yes Fan Fan,” he replies before bouncing out the door.  Kyungsoo snorts derisively at the cute nickname used on the man that is far from the word.

          “Is there something you find amusing, witch?” His voice lowers dangerously.

          “Hey, I thought we determined that I’m not a witch!  I find your unfounded accusations to be extremely rude.”

          “I find myself unconcerned about your feelings.”

          “,” Kyungsoo says as he flicks off the crown prince.

          “I do not know the meaning of your word and gesture, but I can assume they mean something rude?” He looks towards Kyungsoo for confirmation, and when he receives a head nod as answer, he continues on.  “Right, so this is how this is going to work: you are going to speak to me respectfully and answer all of my questions, after which I will decide what to do with you until I can discuss the situation with my father.  Do you understand.” It was not so much a question as an order.

          “Whatever,” Kyungsoo huffs.

          “I thought we agreed that you would speak to me in a respectful manner.”

          “No, you agreed that.  I don’t give respect to people I don’t think have earned it, and you certainly haven’t.”

          “Be mindful of the fact that I can have you executed, no questions asked.”

          “Yeah, but you won’t,” Kyungsoo stared into his eyes defiantly.  “According to Tao, I have the power to save or destroy your kingdom, remember?”

          “Or I can kill you and remove all choice.”

          “You wouldn’t risk that.  You know it, and I know it.”

          Yi Fan stares at him intently for a few moments before breaking out into a wolfish grin that scares Kyungsoo more than the previous threats of his own execution did.  “Very well Kyungsoo, you have called me on my bluff,” and now he is leaning forward dangerously close to the smaller boy who is struggling to keep up his mask of defiance.  “But know this, I am not afraid to beat you an inch from death.” His voice is quiet, making it all the more terrifying.

          “ you,” Kyungsoo spits out vehemently, angry at his situation, internally be the fact that his life is not fair.

          “Are you now willing to answer my questions?” Yi Fan asks, finally leaning away from Kyungsoo.

          “Fine,” he grits out between clenched teeth.

          “What brought you here?”

          “I don’t know.”

          “Why did you come?”

          “I don’t know.”

          “Are you incapable of saying anything besides ‘I don’t know?’” Yi Fan roars angrily.

          “Look, I don’t know the answers to your questions.  Do you think that if I did, I’d be sitting here talking to you instead of trying to get back? No, that’s what I thought. Now shut the up and I’ll tell you what I do know.

          “I was at home, in my world.  It was raining a little bit, but I went for a midnight walk in the woods anyway because I was restless and I do that sometimes.  Suddenly everything got quiet and the moon got dark.  I was scared so I started to walk back, but a flash of lightning struck really close to me and I fell down a hill.  I slammed my head into a rock and then the next thing I know, I have your ing sword poking me in the neck.”

          “An unlikely story.”

          “Well you better ing believe it because unless I’ve gone loony and this is all just in my head, I can’t give you a better explanation!”

          Yi Fan crosses his legs and rubs his chin thoughtfully.

          “I have no choice but to believe your story, Do Kyungsoo.  However, you will remain here under lock and key until I say otherwise.  I will station a guard at your door and you will speak to none by myself and Tao.”  As Yi Fan finishes stating his orders, he stands up and walks to the door to leave.

          “Hey, wait!” Kyungsoo calls out after him, but it is too late, Yi Fan is gone and Kyungsoo is trapped.     

          “Motherer.”