Info:
◇ << POV is in first person
~ << sound effect
The four of them stayed in the dark, gloomy living room. Their dining table's lamp was like a dim campfire, hanging on the ceiling.
They were all minding their own businesses. Philip was washing the plates, Nathan was lying on the couch, and the other two were sitting at the dining table, using their phones.
"Oh look," James stared at his phone screen, "The Music Box just updated."
"What's that?" Philip asked as he washed a plate on the kitchen sink.
"It's new series in Webnovel. Getting quite a lot of attention currently," Ken answered.
The new novel was released last month. It reached a million views in its first few days of release. The story was set in a fantasy world of the 19th century era, where humans share the world with spirits and other races. The plot of the story is rather unique and fresh, not a typical novel that would be posted in the community, which makes it quite interesting.
"Oh.." Phil replied.
"What's Webnovel?" Nathan asked.
Phil sighed, silently judging Nathan.
"It's an online novel," Phil told him, annoyed,"nothing to your interest, honestly speaking."
Unlike the rest of this group of bros, Nathan was the only one who doesn't have interest in Anime, Manga or anything related to these things, which could really make him feel a bit left out sometimes.
"It's been an hour, I should go check on that guy," Ken got off his chair, "what the hell is he doing??"
"Hey, you've been here for quite a while. What the heck are y-" Ken barged into Daniel's room.
"What are you doing?" Ken questioned as he looked at Daniel.
He was sitting on his chair, facing his desk like a black silhouette of the villain who had waiting.
The chair squeeked as he turned around dramatically.
"Friend," Daniel called with a deep voice,"we have a work to do."
"Ha?" Ken asked.
"Oh. I need your help with somethin," Daniel suddenly changed the tone of his voice back to normal, "come, come,"
Ken approached the desk, revealing a hell of a mess on the desk.
"What the hek are these? Why do you have Ye-rin's name written over there? I've never even seen you talking to her."
"Yeah, I forgot to tell you. When I found out about this ability, I hopped randomly between people's minds. Then I found myself going into hers-"
Some explanations laterr....
"So now you're gonna go back in there to see why she had a drawing of you?"
"Yep."
"Don't you think you're going overboard with this thing? We still have school to deal with you know."
"Yeah I know, that's why I'm doing this now so curiosity won't start killing me from the inside.
So, here's what we're gonna do.
Since we ain't got anything crazy at school for now, I'm going to take a day off for tomorrow.
By the morning, I won't be going out of the room.
Once I wake up, I will directly blink into your head and stay there till we get to school."
Ken's eyebrow raised, "What? What for?"
"Now, that's what I'm about to explain.
I figured that I can jump around heads even when I'm not in my own body.
So instead of passing out at school like last time, I can just use you as a ride to school. Then after that, I can just have you pass near her so that I can just simply hop into her pocket just like that."
"What the hell's a pocket?" Ken asked, puzzled.
"Ow, it's nothing, I thought it sounded cooler than "souls""
"Right..." Ken nodded, "but it does sound cooler though."
Upon hearing the compliment, Daniel grinned like an idiot.
The next morning...
Sleeping quietly like a mummy, Daniel suddenly opened his eyes.
It was morning. The time has come for the plan to be executed.
His body swung up as he he pressed his eyelids together, focusing on a blue pocket downstairs.
Fluuup ~
"Good morning," Daniel greeted.
Back in reality, Ken was taking a sip of his cup of coffee when a voice inside his head echoed into his ears.
"Is that you?" Ken thought to himself.
"Yes, obviously," Daniel answered.
From Ken's point of view, in the time when he wasn't exactly using his imagination to forge a whole universe, Daniel was simply a voice in his head.
"So you're actually being serious about this huh?" Ken said internally, just acting like the voice wasn't there in the first place.
"Yep," he answered with enthusiasm.
"Here, I'll make it a bit comfortable for you there," Ken told him.
In an instant, Daniel's vision blurred. His surroundings warped into the house, packed together with everyone else, eating breakfast in the living room. It was as if he was seeing through Ken's eyes, getting access to the reality.
Daniel was dumbstruck. He gazed around, looking at his own house like he was really there.
He moved toward Phil, who was eating breakfast and waved his hand infront of his face. No reaction. So it turns out that he's still in Ken's head after all.
He giggled, "Whoah, this is awesome!"
"Is Daniel alright? He's not waking up and his room's locked," Nathan said, stepping downstairs.
"He said that he has a fever," Ken replied, "it's no big deal, he'll be alright by tomorrow."
"Really? shouldn't we go buy some medicine for him?" James suggested with concern in his eyes.
"Yea, no biggie," Ken said, "we can get some at the convinience store later."
"So he'll be skipping school then?" Philip asked as he slurped a spoon of cereal.
"Seems so," Ken answered.
"Alright then, we better get going," Nathan said, walking to the front door to get his shoes.
Then the rest started moving as they prepared for school.
"Smooth, very smooth, my friend," Daniel complimented.
The corners of Ken's lips curled into an arrogant smile.
"By the way, this is still your head right?" Daniel's eyes wandered around.
"No, this is our house. Well technically yes, but this is through my eyes in real time. What's happening in reality, you can see too," Ken explained.
"It's like I never left my body. Cool."
"I can see you in reality as well, you know," Ken stared at him with a smile.
"Wow. Impressive." Daniel replied.
"Eh, Ken?" Nathan called,"why are you facing the wall?"
Ken snapped back to reality, just realizing that he was the only one who could see Daniel.
Daniel bursted into laughters, watching Ken acting like an idiot smiling to a wall.
The four took a short walk out of the neighbourhood to get to the nearest bus stop.
Along the way, Daniel would amble along as he skipped through the streets like a ballerina in pajamas. He was like a ghost following the four boys.
"I'm still wondering, how the hell did you get the idea to do this?" Daniel asked.
"Not sure, just a bundle of random thoughts and logic that didn't really make sense, but apparently it worked."
"So, I'm basically like a ghost. Nobody else can see me and I can't interact with anything around here. Or perhaps, your imaginary friend," Daniel giggled, "loser.."
"That's for you to answer. I have no idea how it's like being in someone else's mind."
"True. Well, I guess that's just how it is. I shall take note of this."
Upon arriving to school, the day went as usual. Daniel decided to hang around with Ken due to this strange feature of his ability. He fooled around the classroom as the classes proceeded. Making weird faces infront of the explaining teachers, making cringy poses and movements around his unaware classmates. As he does all these things, it was impressive that Ken was able to keep cool and act like the rest.
"Alright, for this assignment, we shall do it in groups," the teacher announced, "you may from groups of 5 by yourselves."
In that exact moment, the class went on the move, recruiting every single one of friends of choice. The class went loud with the noises of students calling one and another from opposite corners of the classroom. Chairs screeched against the floor as they began migrating.
"Ken! Join ours!" called some dude with an enthusiastic look.
"Keeen! We have a space available!" a girl offered.
"Ken!"
"Ken!"
"Keeennn!"
All the voices echoed into his ears like a torturous hypnosis, coming together all at once.
The reason that everyone wanted him in their group wasn't because of his intelligent. He wasn't any genius.
Ken, was a rather passive guy. He never tried to make friends nor join any discussion with new people, but for some reason that science can't explain, he never needed to interact with others. He was like a magnet, not just for the girls who are crazy over him, but also for every single guy (no homo). He was the guy who is just very very difficult to hate or dislike. He has a unique charisma that just attracts everyone around him.
He just smiled awkwardly, his eyes switching between the people waiting patiently for his answer.
"Very lucky, aren't you?" Daniel said with a displeased look, sitting on the desk next to him.
"Shut up, this can get irritating you know?" Ken thought to himself.
"Yeah, I guess I won't know how it feels," Daniel replied, jealousy all over his pouting face.
"Ken, wanna join in?" Philip called from a distance.
He was alone without a single member, just slouching with his legs resting on his desk.
Ken looked at Philip. After a few moments of reconsidering, he shrugged his shoulders and went to join in with Philip.
All the students that had waited so patiently had their eyes turning towards Philip with fiery stares and frowning brows.
"Wat?" Philip asked the rest of the class.
"I'm impressed that at this point you haven't thought of doing anything any teenager would do," Ken said internally.
"Hmm. You're... right..."
Daniel started noticing the girls in the class, their clear skin, the short skirts that revealed more than necessary. Inappropriate ideas began entering his mind like a rollercoaster.
Abruptly, he punched himself in the face.
"Don't think about it. Don't think about it," he muttered.
"Wow. What a gentleman you are." Ken chuckled internally, suprised with Daniel's attempt to resist.
"Yea... I shouldn't do those things," his eyes squinted at Ken in disgust.
Daniel observed the group arrangements and noticed Ye-rin. By that point, he had already forgotten his main purpose of skipping the day.
Ye-rin was sitting by the window, at the furthest row of seats from the door. The noon light leaked through the windows, giving Daniel a clear look of her with her short, black hair and clear skin.
Daniel gazed at her, with a look that he hadn't had for quite a while.
He snapped and shook his head, clearing his thoughts.
Time had passed and it was already lunch.
"Wherever I go is restricted with what you can see, so stay around this area. I need to check this out," Daniel told Ken.
Ken had to call the rest to follow him to sit in the school park right outside the canteen, in which some students may eat, study or just hang around.
They were sitting below a tree. They sat down on the rustling grass, eating whatever packed lunch they had with them.
Ken sighed in his thoughts, "This isn't very comfortable you know?"
"Meh, this is more important," Daniel said as he approached the group of girls just a few meters away from Ken and the others.
"Ye-rinnnnn.." Eun-hee pulled her sweater back and forth, "help meee... I think I'm going to fail the mathematics test today..."
Ye-rin just smiled warmly as she was pulled like Eun-hee's princess doll. She sat cross-legged on the grass, enjoying a chocolate sprinkled bun.
"You need to start studying, Eun-hee," adviced Sarah,"how about ask some advice from this one?"
Sarah patted Ji-soo's head.
"Hm?" Ji-soo asked, glancing back at them with a bread in her mouth.
"I'm not thaaat smart... ," Ji-soo said, slightly flattered.
The others all turned at her with a forbidding stare and pressed lips. That was a rather funny joke from one of the top students.
Out of the four, most would say that Sarah looked the smartest since she was the one a lot find attractive and also very mannerful. She has all the proper qualities of an actual
princess.
As for Ji-soo, the first impression of this air-headed girl might not say that she would be a smart one. Her appearence and manner of speaking made her look just like an average girl, but in reality, she was one hell of a genius.
As the girls continued their conversation, Daniel was going around them, observing every detail he could get. Not being able to touch anything, he could only look around. His attention was focused mostly at her notebook.
"Novel plans," it says.
"Oh, now I'm getting some ideas," Daniel said to himself.
"What's up?" Ken said internally.
"Turns out she's writing a novel," Daniel told him.
"So what, she was drawing you for a character or something?"
"Possibly?" Daniel guessed, "I'll just wait a bit longer till the evening then I'll move to hers.
A few hours later...
"It's getting dark, she should be out any minute now," Daniel said.
"Probably," Ken answered without moving his mouth.
The four, as usual, were waiting outside of school, at the bus stop. They sat on the bench, under the trickling shed. It was raining. The steet puddles were shining with the colors of streetlights as the pedestrians were filled with passing umbrellas.
"I heard The Music Box just updated? Haven't read it. James said the author introduced a new character," Daniel asked, killing the time as he waited for her.
"Yeah. I wouldn't spoil, so," Ken replied.
"Oh there she is!" Daniel pointed, "alright man, see you later!"
"Wait-" Ken called in his thoughts just as Daniel was about to get moving, "when are you going back?"
"Probably later tonight? I'm not sure," Daniel replied, rushing.
Then in a blink of an eye, Daniel vanished into thin air, disappearing from Ken's sight.
"Yo, you've been looking around like there's something over there, what's up man?" Philip asked.
"Oh, it's nothing, I was just thinking," Ken replied.
Just as Daniel went away, Ken's phone whistled. He fished into his pocket, checking the notification.
"Tomorrow's weekend, let's go out :)"
Ken smiled as he read the message.
Fluuup ~
Daniel opened his eyes, finding himself in the same library.
Back in reality, Ye-rin was walking down the street with an umbrella. Apparently her neighbourhood was nearby so she only had to walk.
"Ugh, skirts," she complained, "My legs wouldn't get splashed if I had pants."
"Alright," Daniel said to himself, "shape shift!"
He clenched his buttcheeks and pressed his eyelids. At that moment, his body grew taller and his limbs extended. Threads emerged, slithering around his body as it began knitting itself into a black cloak.
Daniel began writhing and twisting like something was pushing itself out of his body. His face deformed under his hood as white feathers spiked off his skin. Hands and feet turned into strong sharp talons. Raising his arms wide open in the air, two glorious wings unfolded from his back.
He huffed, calming himself from the sudden transformation.
"Oh wait," he realized, "did I just do a dramatic effect? cause I didn't feel a thing xD."
Daniel was no longer there. Standing in the ancient library was a wise, slender figure, with the face of a snowy owl.
"Sweet," he posed around infront of a reflective object on the wall.
"Oh, one more thing," he thought.
"Ehm," he coughed, "testing, testing, testing 1-2-3,"
As he tested his voice, slowly, the frequency dropped down, giving him the deep voice of a gentleman.
"Greetings," he bowed at his own reflection with his smiling owl face. He chuckled to himself, impressed with his own form.
"Alright, let's get going," he told himself.
Daniel wandered through the library, trying to find Ye-rin. Apparently, her mind follows actual time and weather. He saw droplets of water rolling down the windows. It was a drizzly evening.
Daniel remembered some routes that he took the first time he came but he couldn't find her anywhere. He went to check the fireplace. It was dark. Nobody was there. He went around like an idiot for quite some time, enough for her to get home and do other stuff.
Minutes later...
"Ah.." Ye-rin yawned, dropping herself on her bed. She was so relaxed that it felt like she was sinking into a giant marshmallow.
She just finished bath, now in casual clothes, just some shirt and shorts. Her hair was still silky wet from shower but she didn't bother to lay down on her bed.
After while of exploring around, Daniel found a balcony. Light beamed through in the darkness of the grim and forbidding hall. It was as if he was in a royal mansion. All those antique furnitures and stuff were all there, like fancy people's homes.
"Oh, that's her right?" he asked himself, looking at a girl in a white sun dress, sitting in the balcony.
Daniel approached her closer. He peeked out, the gentle breeze blowing her hair in the air.
Once again, he almost dozed off while looking at her again.
Daniel took quick breaths, sucking the air into his chest.
"Lesgo," he slapped his own chest.
"Greetings, Ms. Park," Daniel bowed behind her.
"Who just said that?" Ye-rin said to herself in her bedroom, getting alarmed just as she was about to fall asleep. Her eyes darted everywhere, looking for the source of voice.
Inside her mind, she turned back and saw a tall man with an owl face.
She shrieked like a banshee, falling down the balcony, into the endless abyss of sky.
"Hey!" Daniel called, dropping down to go after her.
He sped up like a bullet, his cloak cutting against the wind like a flapping cloth. In a split second, Daniel carried her in his strong feathery arms and his great wings spread out, dragging them to an abrupt stop.
She spared a brief moment, her jaw dropped and eyes widened in shock as she stared up to the owl man that had just rescued her.
Not having anything to say, Daniel just looked at her as his wings flapped gently against the air.
panicked, she pushed him away.
Instead of falling, Ye-rin stayed still, hovering in mid air.
"Oh right... It's her mind," Daniel thought to himself, suddenly thinking that he was a f*ckin idiot to try to save someone in their own mind, where they can literally do anything they want.
She quivered up from her bed into a sitting position. She thought she was going crazy. Another person is speaking inside her head.
With a frowning face, she snapped her finger, warping them both back inside the floating mansion. She waved her hand around quickly as if getting rid of some insects and out of nowhere, chains shot down from the darknesss.
The chains had Daniel trapped on the spot. He couldn't move a single muscle as he struggled to escape.
Without a word, she stared at him with a troubled face, not knowing what to do.
"No w-worries," Daniel stuttered.
"I'm a... a spirit," he deepened his voice
He tried to chuckle quietly with his altered voice to relief the tension. Now what? He ain't got anything else to do with the situation.
"This isn't- isn't the first time you came here," she said quietly with fear.
"What do you want?" she interrogated, not daring to get any closer.
Daniel didn't know what to answer. He was completely out of ideas when a genius plan struck his head.
"I was summoned," Daniel replied, continueing his act, "are you not the conjurer?"